


What You Don't Know (Can Kill You)

by neojedigoddess



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU from near end of season 13, Angels had wings restored, Awesome Rowena MacLeod, British Men of Letters are assholes, Comforting Jack Kline, Crowley is still dead sorry, Dean Winchester is an angry sleeper. Like a bear., Eileen too, Extremely Slow Burn, F/M, Gabriel is dead or is he, Hunter Life, Jack Kline is a Winchester, Life in the bunker, Mysterious OFC, No Dichael, No Lucifer, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, Slow Burn, Three Dads & a Nephilim, college professor, learning the truth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2020-03-02 12:50:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18811258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neojedigoddess/pseuds/neojedigoddess
Summary: Olivia Baylor was a simple college professor at the University of Chicago until one night she's attacked by demons and saved by Team Free Will 2.0. Forced to live in the Men of Letters Bunker for her own safety, Olivia learns that the world she thought she knew is much bigger and much scarier than she'd ever imagined. Acting on the tip of a psychic, the Winchesters, Castiel and Jack need to figure out just why Olivia is being hunted and just why their fates are connected to hers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Giving this another shot even though I know the fandom doesn't like slow burns or hetero pairings. But that's what I write. This time, with Sam.
> 
> This goes AU from when they left Apocalypse World. Lucifer DOES NOT come back and neither does Michael. They are gone permanently. Jack is still a sweet awkward cinnamon bun (with a nougat grace center) and has three dads, one of which wears a trenchcoat. Angels have their wings back and I ignore the idea that there are only a few angels left. I play with the layout of the Bunker, given there's no decent map of it online.

**Sam POV**

Sam made his way from the Bunker garage, his arms filled with groceries. He always insisted on doing the shopping since if it was up to Dean, all they would have is bacon, beer and pie, if that much. He wasn't so foolish as to not get bacon, beer and pie but he also got actual fruits and vegetables. No need for Jack to get any more bad habits from Dean.

 

After everything with the last couple years, he found grocery shopping somewhat relaxing. He could push the cart up and down the aisles and just pretend, if just for a short time that he was just like other people, perfectly clueless about how the world really was. Have the worst thing be the car breaking down or a late credit card bill. He knew he'd never be the “normal” person that he'd dreamed of as a kid but he still craved the little things.

 

He was divided on if he should be glad that the last few weeks had been quiet or be ready for everything to blow up because it was so quiet. There had been no jumping between realities, no angelic civil wars, no one else brought back from the dead. Just a few milkrun type cases. At least for the last few weeks. Now that Lucifer was permanently stuck in the Apocalypse world with next to no one to keep him company but that reality's Michael, they could take a breath and regroup. If they were really lucky, maybe the two had managed to obliterate each other and they would never have to worry about them again.

 

Then again, when had luck ever really been that kind to anyone with the last name Winchester?

 

He put the bags down on the oversized counter and began to unpack everything. Just a few weeks ago, there'd been over 25 people living in the Bunker and now it was back to just himself with Dean, Castiel and Jack. The Bobby from the other reality and his mother had decided that it was foolish to stay locked up in the Bunker when they could be out helping people. They'd encouraged the rest of the survivors from Apocalypse World to head out and hunt too. Considering how many American hunters were taken out by the British Men of Letters, they needed all the help they could get on the hunting front.

 

He paused, feeling that usual ache in his heart thinking of what those bastards had done. One of their many victims had been Eileen. She hadn't meant to kill one of their guys, it had been an accident but it had signed her death warrant. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't wish that he'd insisted she stay with them. Ironically, he'd thought that by not keeping her with them, she would be safer.

 

And then she was torn apart by a hellhound.

 

He took a deep breath and pushed that pain aside, opening the fridge and getting back to putting everything away. He just needed to realize that maybe having a relationship just wasn't in the cards for him. It had to be a Winchester thing because Dean wasn't doing any better but somehow it didn't seem to bother him as much.

 

“Sammy!”

 

“I'm in the kitchen!” He called back closing the fridge. He turned just in time to see Dean with Cas and Jack. “What's going on?”

 

“We got a call from one of Missouri Mosely's fellow psychics. We have a potential case. Well, to her it's an emergency of cosmic whatever. You know how psychics are.” Dean said with a roll of his eyes and a wave of his hand.

 

“Missouri never steered us wrong Dean. I doubt she'd have given someone prone to hysterics the time of day.” He quick grabbed the plastic bags and put them with the others that had piled up over time. “So what's the story?”

 

Jack spoke up. “Bianca, the psychic, called and said that there was a college professor who was in grave danger and the only ones who could protect her were the four of us. She also said that this professor would be the motherly influence that an effective toddler with three fathers desperately needed. I'm guessing that was about me but she claimed to not know what that meant. I made sure not to volunteer anything or answer any potential leading questions either. She said, visions were a matter of perspective and had to be figured out, you would know what that was like.” He paused and looked to Dean. “Did I get everything?”

 

Dean gave an approving nod and clapped Jack on the shoulder. “You did good kiddo. Nice job.”

 

Sam fought back the smile. That psychic was right about a toddler with three dads, not that Jack looked his age. He was proud of how far Jack had come and how he'd managed not to go down the dark road that they had feared he would because of who his father was. Instead, in the womb he'd somehow imprinted on Castiel to the point that he even looked like him. He'd been adamant on not being like Lucifer and while there had been some hiccups, he was doing really well. He didn't know if a motherly influence was desperately needed, that was a little dramatic. Their Mom was pretty protective of Jack, especially given all the time they spent together on Apocalypse world but she was also protective of Castiel in a similar way.

 

“So we're going to save some old lady college professor and I guess she's gonna be around for a while. Probably whatever is threatening her isn't a quick one and done kind of problem.” Dean said with a shrug. “Just when we were getting this place back to being a bachelor pad.”

 

“A secret bachelor pad. Yeah, that makes sense.” Sam rolled his eyes and headed for the door so he could get ready for the newest case. “Where are we heading?”

 

“Chi-town. She's a professor at the University of Chicago.”

 

*****

“Alright Sam, tell us about this professor chick. Lady. Whatever.” Dean asked as they raced to try and reach Chicago in time. One of the joys of going off of a psychic's visions is that you had no real idea of the timeline. It could be tonight or it could be in a week. Cas was off trying to find out more about just how dire the threat might be and Jack was asleep in the backseat. While the nephilim didn't sleep very much, they did try to encourage him to at least try as he was part human.

 

“Well she's not some old lady like you thought. She's actually younger than you.” He informed with a little bit of happiness with the twitch that news got him. “Olivia Baylor, PhD two times over. She's a history professor and mostly teaches about the Civil War and 19th century America. Actually I think I have one or two of her books back at the Bunker.” As much as Dean liked to tease him for being a huge nerd, there were more than a few times where his knowledge managed to save their asses.

 

“That's great, you can have her autograph them if we manage to save her in time. Fanboy later, information now. What's going on with her that her life would be in danger? Is she secretly a witch or a monster? One of Cas' siblings undercover? Anything jump out?”

 

Sam shook his head, looking at another screen where Dr. Baylor was a commentator on a documentary about Gettysburg. She looked incredibly young to be a PhD but had been a professor at the University of Chicago for well over 10 years. He wondered how many students mistook her for another student rather than their professor. “From what I can see, I don't think she's ever been in trouble in her life. Mother died when she was a kid and then her father who was a PhD in American Lit when she was 19. She had good grades, amazing grades actually. Graduated high school at 15. Never arrested or investigated and even has a decent credit score. She had an older brother, he was a professor too, I guess it ran in the family. Get this, he taught World Folklore and comparative religion.”

 

“Hmm. So maybe he knew something about what goes bump in the night? You said had, he's gone too?”

 

“Yeah. Died from lung cancer a few years ago. Parents were both older and didn't have any siblings. She's alone. No marriages, no kids. Looks like her work is her life.” He could sympathize with that but at least he wasn't alone. Maybe she preferred it that way?

 

“I'm liking this chick more already. No muss, no fuss. What about her students? Maybe she pissed off the wrong kid by flunking him, not knowing he was a monster or whatever. You know how Chicago is practically monster central. Anything like that?”

 

Sam sighed. “Nope. From what I see here, she's a pretty popular professor. Tough as hell, makes her students work for their grades but goes out of her way to help them.” He'd easily hacked into the University's site and read over the evaluations she'd gotten from not only fellow professors but grad students and undergrads. From what he could tell, she was liked even if she was tough. The only negative evaluations were from students who failed. He closed his laptop as they passed a sign telling them they were approaching Lincoln, Nebraska. Ironic considering Dr. Baylor's field of study. “I have a bad feeling about this. Why would anyone want to specifically go after this professor who looks like she's just living a quiet life? Why are we the only ones who can save her? What's her connection to us or to Jack?”

 

“I dunno Sammy. I don't like it either. The only thing we can do is try to get to her before whatever is after her gets to her and take it from there.”

 

“So our usual approach?”

 

“Pretty much.”

 

**Olivia POV**

Olivia closed her laptop and sighed, rubbing at her eyes. As long as she had been a college professor, she never understood why these kids thought that waiting to the last minute to write term papers or to study for a final was a good idea. How the hell half of them managed to graduate with degrees, she had no idea. She was lucky that she managed to scare off most of the real lazy ones in the first couple weeks of her classes but there were always a few stubborn ones who thought that she wasn't serious about the workload or not caring about their social lives.

 

Social life, what was that? Ever since Jimmy died, she nearly lived on campus herself. What else was she supposed to do? She'd tried and failed at dating, she just gave up. Now, the spectre of turning 40 was only a couple years away. At least she had a career she loved and was more than decent at if her publisher and the dean of the university were asked.

 

But was this all there was? Other people her age had kids. Hell, she was around the same age as the parents of some of her freshmen students. But after losing both Dad and Jimmy, she didn't want to have a kid just to have a kid. That was unfair and selfish. Besides, considering the mental issues from her mother's side of the family, how would that be fair to pass on? Maybe she was just meant to be an old maid. At least she would have her books and maybe manage to influence a few kids into not being completely ignorant.

 

But tonight, she was going home. She felt the need for some wholly unnutrious food and then a Netflix binge. With classes over until the new year and new semester, she honestly didn't have any real reason to be at the University this late anyway. She was probably one of the only professors left, most everyone else probably home with their families.

 

*****

Olivia tried to stay as quiet as she could from where she'd hidden under the desk. If only she could get her body to stop shaking so hard. All she knew was that something very bad was happening and there was a strong chance she was going to die tonight. Or worse. She was just about to pack up and go home for a few hours of sleep before those strange people burst into her office with black eyes. How did they have pure black eyes? One of them looked like one of the custodians but she couldn't be sure. Was it a new kind of drug, something like bathsalts? She'd tried to fight back, but all she'd gotten for her efforts was punched in the face and then nearly stabbed with a weird looking knife. Would have if it hadn't been for that guy in the trenchcoat appearing out of nowhere and knocking the knife away.

 

He'd told her to hide somewhere safe, blocking her from the people who'd attacked her with his own body. Then there were more people and it sounded like a small war was going on in her office. She didn't want to know what all the sounds were because she had a feeling these guys weren't having a tickle fight. She'd closed her eyes when she'd seen what looked like a pool of blood running along the floor by one of her bookcases. There'd been shouting and somehow the smell of sulfur and it was all too much. Her face was throbbing from the punch she'd received from the one that looked like a trucker. She'd never been punched before and it fucking hurt. It felt like her face was broken and her eye was starting to swell. This had to be a very vivid nightmare. _Wake up! Wake up! Wakeupwakeupwakeup!_

 

Then it got quiet.

 

One voice, commanding. “Okay, is that all of them?”

 

“It looks like it. Looks like we got here just in time.” Another, not as commanding.

 

“Are you okay Jack?” A third voice, deep and flat but somehow showing concern. “You fought well.”

 

“I'm okay. Where's the professor?” The fourth voice was younger, sounding like one of her students almost.

 

She tried not to breathe. Who were these people? What did the first guy mean by all of them? What did they want with her? Were they the people with the black eyes or the ones who apparently showed up with the trenchcoat guy?

 

“Dr Baylor?” The second voice again. The sound of it made her open her eyes to see that he'd discovered her hiding spot. He was a large man with shaggy hair but soft eyes. She whimpered and pressed herself back away from him. He had blood on his flannel shirt and not just a little. That was real blood, not paint. “It's okay, we're here to help you.”

 

_WAKE UP!!!_

 

“Please don't hurt me.” She tried to keep her voice level but it was a losing effort. She sounded just as terrified as she felt, she couldn't control it. She felt like a child, not a grown woman. How was she to know if these people weren't here to hurt her too? Why did anyone want to hurt her?

 

“Let me try.” The younger voice spoke and she saw his jeans and sneakers by the large man. He nodded and slowly moved away. The younger man squatted down and indeed looked like any college student she had taught over the last decade or so. “Hi. My name is Jack. I know you are really scared right now but we're here to help you. You don't having to be afraid anymore.”

 

She didn't say anything, how did she know she could trust him? He seemed very friendly and had wide honest eyes but what if he was just that good at lying? He looked so young, how did he get involved with whatever madness this was? He didn't look like one of the black eyed people. Neither had the tall guy. Didn't mean they were any better.

 

He moved carefully and slowly, much like the other man had so he was sitting down Indian style. He waited for a moment before speaking again. “Are you hurt? Everything happened very quickly, I know you must still be scared. Did those people hurt you? Your eye looks swollen.”

 

She shook her head, wincing at the pain the motion caused in her face. “I tried to fight back. One of them punched me. They were....the one who hit me had a weird knife. The man in the trenchcoat stopped him.”

 

Jack smiled a little and nodded. “That's Castiel. Trying to fight back was very brave. Can you come out here? I promise we're here to help you. You're safe now.”

 

“You won't hurt me?”

 

He shook his head. “No, we won't. We want to help you.” He held out his hand. “I promise.”

 

She took a breath and swallowed before reaching out and letting him take her hand. It wasn't like she could just stay tucked under her desk until they decided to go away. All that big one would have to do is grab her arm or her ankle and drag her out. Jack gave her a reassuring smile as she managed to scoot out from under her desk and helped her into her chair that had been pushed against the wall during all the ruckus. The adrenaline was still rushing through her body making her legs feel weak and shaky. She looked around and gasped. It was like a tornado had gone through her normally tidy office, throwing books and furniture around. One of her bookcases was completely smashed and she would guess it had something to do with the bloody man lying still in front of it. Lying much too still.

 

Just like the other three.

 

“Oh my god. Are....they dead?” She fought not to panic. There were four dead people in her office and four more men she didn't know standing there, two of them covered in blood. The one she hadn't seen yet, the first voice, stood there with a serious look and a very large bloody knife in his hands.

 

“Well they aren't taking a power nap. But it's nothing to be upset over, they were already dead before they came in here.” The man with the knife said like he was talking about the weather. He squatted down and pulled back the shirt of the dead guy at his feet, showing what looked like old bullet wounds. Thank you procedural cop shows. “They were demons, lady, not people.”

 

“Oh god, you're insane.” She struggled not to throw up. Her head was pounding from the adrenaline, shock and how hard that guy had hit her. The guy who was now dead on the floor of her office. Now there was a guy claiming they were demons. Was she the one going insane? “You killed four people! Are you crazy?”

 

“No, he's not. He's just not very tactful.” The large man who'd first talked to her spoke up. He put his knife away and held up his hands. “My name is Sam Winchester and that's my brother, Dean. You met Jack and this is Castiel. I know it's hard to believe but Dean was right, those were demons that were sent after you.” He spoke softly, like he was trying not to startle an animal or something. “We're hunters. Demons, monsters, angels, they are all real.”

 

“Dr. Baylor?” Jack spoke, moving so she'd see him. “Are you sure you aren't hurt more than you said? You are shaking very hard and I don't think your face should be that white.”

 

“Jack, she's terrified. She's probably on the verge of throwing up or passing out. Or both.” The blunt one who'd been referred to as Dean spoke up. “Cas?”

 

The man in the trenchcoat stepped over and lifted his hand with two fingers extended. “Rest, it will be easier to understand when you are rested.”

 

His fingers touched her forehead and then all she knew was black.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, angels got their wings back and Lucifer is gone. Permanently.
> 
> Also, demons hate feedback so go nuts! ;-)

**Sam POV**

Sam sighed and moved to pick up the college professor, now unconscious, before she slid out the chair Jack had helped her into. “Dean, after all these years, you can't figure out a more diplomatic way to break the truth to someone?” He was careful as he adjusted her tiny body in his arms. Tiny to him anyway. He felt bad at how they'd managed to introduce themselves, though they had had worse introductions. They just hadn't counted on the danger being a group of demons who'd nearly beat them to the professor. They were lucky she hadn't started screaming or tried to run away. If Cas hadn't put the whammy on her, he had no doubt she probably would have passed out from the fear.

 

“We don't always have time for diplomacy, Sammy. There's something about this chick that has demons coming after her. Demons armed with angel blades.” He leaned down and picked up one of the discarded weapons, twirling it in his fingers for emphasis before tossing it onto the body of the demon that'd been wielding it. “We need to get back to the car and get the hell out of Dodge. Let's grab some of her stuff and get to a hotel outside of town to figure out what our next step is. Cas, how long is she gonna be out for?”

 

“A few hours.” The angel said, already moving to gather the professor's laptop and what she'd had on her desk. He paused as he silently indicated the contents of a small duffel that looked like a hunter's go bag, that had probably a few changes of clothes and toiletries. Interesting, what did a professor need with a go bag? Was she planning a trip? Did she somehow know the attack was coming? “Jack, you did very well talking to her. That was a great help.”

 

“Thanks. She was so scared.” Jack grabbed a leather satchel that was on the floor by the desk and held it open for Castiel to put the laptop in, along with the books and papers on the desk. He rummaged through the drawers of the desk and added disc drives and what looked like personal items, including pictures. “She's younger than I thought she would be. Or she just looks much younger than I expected.”

 

“Yeah me too. I guess I figured to be a college professor you had to have some years on you. Or at least show it.” Dean found her coat and the wallet inside. “Driver's license, a few credit cards and cash. We can do a drive by of her house but we can't be sure there isn't a demon welcoming committee waiting for her there.” He put the wallet back in the coat and handed it to Jack. “I'm gonna go bring the car around. I'll honk when it's safe to bring her out.”

 

Castiel picked up the angel blades the demons had been armed with. “Why would they attack her using these specifically? If they just wanted her dead, they could have snapped her neck easily.”

 

“To make it look like angels did it?” Jack suggested, his brow furrowed making him look all the more like Castiel. All he needed was a trenchcoat. “But that doesn't make sense either.”

 

Sam sighed, adjusting the unconscious woman in his arms. He caught a whiff of perfume, a light scent. Lilacs? The punch she'd received looked painful and untreated would probably give her a decent black eye if not swell her eye completely shut. The demon must have been pissed that she'd made an effort to try and fight back. “Let's focus on keeping her safe first. Cas, can you heal her eye? No need for her to be terrified and in pain.”

 

“Of course.” Cas walked over and touched his fingers to her temple again and like that, she was healed. “I should head over to her home, see if there are more demons there waiting for her. What is her address, Jack?”

 

Jack was quick to dig out the wallet that Dean had put back in the coat and opened it. “Looks like 1701 Pike Drive. Do you want me to come with you?”

 

“I'm just going to observe. Stay with Sam and the Professor, keep them safe. I'll return in a moment.” A moment later, the trenchcoat wearing angel was gone.

 

Jack was still looking at the professor's wallet, namely the pictures. “This must be her father. And that's her brother.” He showed Sam the pictures. One being her at a graduation with both men grinning proudly. “There are no pictures of her mother.”

 

“She was a kid when her mom died, she might not remember her.” Sam reasoned. “I didn't really carry a picture of mine until I was older, until I actually met her.” He'd had a picture of his mom back at his apartment with Jess at Stanford but it had mostly just been an automatic thing. Part of his “training” from his father had included making sure to look and act like other kids so as not to draw undue attention.

 

“It's sad, she's all alone and this happens to her. If we hadn't gotten here in time, she wouldn't have had a chance.” Jack looked to the unconscious woman with sympathetic eyes. Sam wondered if that innate sympathy was something that had imprinted on him in the womb from his mother Kelly. He'd like to think that it was something Jack had learned from him and Castiel, even from Dean on occasion. He knew for damn sure it didn't come from Lucifer.

 

“She's not alone anymore, buddy. We're going to keep her safe and figure this all out. Trust me.”

 

Jack nodded, taking a last look at the pictures before putting the wallet away.

 

**Dean POV**

Dean kept an eye out as Sam and Jack got the professor in the backseat. The last thing they needed was a surprise attack or worse, the cops to show up and see three guys kidnapping an unconscious professor. It was a good thing it was the end of the semester and a weekend before holidays. Ironic that the demons had picked the absolute perfect time for their attack. The question was, had they been planning to kill her or kidnap her?

 

He could almost hear Bobby, their Bobby, in his head, calling him an idgit that would have been able to answer the question if they'd left a demon alive to answer it. He knew from experience though, demons weren't all that forthcoming and the four they had ganked hadn't even bothered with banter, just down to business. They had made a major mess in that fight. Thankfully Jack was able to make use of his nephilim powers to get rid of the demon bodies and make the office look like it must have before the attack.

 

“I'm back.” Cas appeared at the front of the car. He'd gotten much better about personal space in the last few years.

 

“What's her house like?”

 

“Small, in a quiet neighborhood. I saw no activity but that in and of itself could be suspicious. I would suggest we wait until tomorrow to go back to it. Perhaps we will know more about why she was attacked by then.”

 

“Dean, we better go. The longer we stay here the more chance of another attack. And it's not like we can exactly turn to Crowley to find out what the hell is going on. No pun intended.” Sam suggested talking over the roof of the car, his eyes looking around for potential danger.

 

Dean leaned down to see that Jack was sitting with his jacket balled up into a pillow on his lap for the unconscious professor to rest on. Probably Sam's idea to make her as comfortable as possible even unconscious. He'd turned up the heat so there was no need to cover her with a blanket. The familiar sound of the Legos jammed in the vents over 30 years ago rattling around was always a comfort. At least to him it was. “ Cas, hop in the back. If there's a hint of anything about to go down, you zap her and Jack out of the car, Sam and I will manage on our own.” There was no way of knowing if this attack was a one off or if those demon dicks had backup.

 

“We can't leave you behind!” Jack protested as the brother's got into the car together. “It's better if we stay together.”

 

“Buddy, if someone is coming after her, it's going to be a whole lot easier to get her if they try to take out the car with all of us in it. You guys zap out, their target is gone.” Dean explained as he resisted the urge to peel out of the University and onto the nearest safe back road where there weren't any potential traffic cameras. “You know Sam and I can handle ourselves.” Just the same, he appreciated the boy's concern. Who'd have thought they'd have Lucifer's son worrying about their safety?

 

“Let's just get out of here and lessen the chance we have to act on that contingency.” Cas spoke from the backseat, having eased his way in, the professor's legs over his lap.

 

“I'm with Cas.” Sam spoke up, looking to the backseat. “Let's find a place outside of the city and wait for her to wake up. Then we will diplomatically explain things to her and see what she can tell us when she isn't terrified for her life.” He emphasized diplomatically.

 

Dean rolled his eyes. “When did this family become a democracy?”

 

*******

“Jack, pull back the covers on one of the beds. Let's at least try to make her comfortable.” Dean instructed as he held open the door so Sam could carry in the still unconscious professor. He put the bags they'd taken from her office on one of the chairs before closing the door so Cas could salt it. They'd managed to get out of the city without any incident, though he'd honestly expected one. This place was even more of a dive than some of the places they had stayed over the years but it was out of the way and you couldn't see the car from the road. Even if no one knew they had saved her, it was better that no potential demons saw the car as is, how it wasn't more of an alert to monsters and demons, he had no idea. “Damn, she's a tiny one.”

 

“That's what I thought too.” Sam agreed, setting her down on the bed carefully before pulling off the sneakers she'd been wearing and covering her up. She didn't look like a college professor. Maybe a grad student. The real question was, what was it about her that had demons trying to gank her? “Let's just hope she doesn't freak out completely when she wakes up.” It had been a long drive and the last thing he wanted to do was have to restrain a screaming woman he was trying to keep safe. That was one headache he definitely didn't need. He hated the screamers.

 

“What if we got her food?” Jack asked, having finished up salting the window and the door with Castiel. It was unlikely they would be found here, but if his entire life had taught him anything, it was to prepare for everything. Jack was learning quick, they hadn't even had to tell him what to do. Somewhere he imagined his Dad would be proud or at least satisfied. “Food is a comfort. We could get her something to eat and it will help her to trust us. Right?”

 

Cas smiled a little and Dean wondered if he was remembering his own learning curve on how to directly deal with humans over the last decade. The guy was billions of years old but most of that hadn't exactly been spent getting to know humanity. Probably why most angels were dicks. “That's a great idea Jack. One of us should stay here to guard her though.”

 

“I'll stay.” Dean volunteered, plopping down on the other bed while throwing the keys to the Impala to Sam. “Don't take too long. We don't know just how badly these demons want to get their hands on her. I'll call you if things get sketchy.” As much as he hated the screamers, he didn't want to make the others deal with it either. If he had to, he could get her out and hotwire a car or simply pray to Cas or Jack for help. The angels having their wings restored after everything with Amara had been a blessing he assumed from Chuck.

 

“Let me guess, the biggest heartstopping burger we can find and enough fries to sop up all the grease?” Sam asked with a face, heading for the door.

 

Dean grinned. “Oh little brother, you know me so well.”

 

**Olivia POV**

 

Olivia woke up slowly and felt very confused once she opened her eyes. She wasn't in her bed or even on the sofa in her office. She was in what looked like a very cheap hotel room. One that potentially charged by the hour, not that she had any experience with them. She just knew that she wouldn't choose to stay here on her own, that was sure. She checked to find that she was fully dressed under the covers, just without shoes. She felt almost drugged and very thirsty. What was going on? How did she get here?

 

Turning her head, she was startled to see a man sitting on the other bed in the room, watching what looked like an infomercial on a TV that was physically bolted to the wall. Fully dressed in jeans, flannel and boots, watching what looked like new promotion for an improved George Foreman grill. What the hell? It wasn't until he turned and saw she was awake that she realized who he was. The bloody man with the knife.

 

Oh god, it was real and not a nightmare?

 

He turned off the TV with the remote and held up his hands. “Hey, hey, it's okay. You're safe. My name is Dean Winchester. We didn't exactly meet under the best circumstances.” Now his voice was almost gentle, not as abrupt as it had been in her office.

 

She sat up carefully, trying to keep her breathing even. She wasn't tied up and from what she could tell, no one had tried any funny business. He was in different clothes, at least ones that weren't covered in gore. But there was a gun with a pearl handle and the previously bloody knife on the nightstand, right where he could get to them and he was closer to the door than she was. Crap, crap, crap! “Where are we?” Her voice sounded almost embarrassingly squeaky.

 

“A motel outside of town. We had to get you away from the campus and somewhere anonymous. You'll be safe here. I'm sure you a feeling a bit out of it and thirsty. Do you want some water?”

 

“Yes, please.” Maybe if she cooperated, he would let her go.

 

She watched him as he slowly moved to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, carefully handing it to her. He was acting like he wanted to make sure not to spook her. Was she that obvious at how scared she was? She must have passed out back in her office when the trenchcoated man went to touch her. “There you go. The water will help wake you up.”

 

The bottle didn't look tampered with so she took a chance opening it and took a careful sip, her hands shaking a little. It wasn't everyday you woke up to find out your nightmare wasn't a nightmare. It was like heaven going down and soon enough half the bottle was gone. “Thank you.”

 

“Listen, I'm sorry about before. I've been doing this so long, sometimes I forget that there are people out there who don't know the truth or have never been around fighting or death.” He ran his hand over his short hair. “I honestly didn't mean to scare you, okay?”

 

“The truth? You mean, you were serious about the demon thing?” Demons weren't real. They couldn't be real. They were just cultural constructs created by man to explain the unexplainable, somewhere to put the blame for the evil man was capable of. Was this guy some religious cultist? He didn't look like a cultist. Was there a flannel cult?

 

He nodded, his eyes serious and almost apologetic. If she wasn't still terrified and completely doubting reality, she'd have to admit he was handsome, almost boyish. At least around the eyes. Would be more so if he didn't have that obscenely huge knife within reach. “Yeah. Sorry to break it to you, doc.”

 

Before she could ask another question, the room door opened and the other three men came in with what looked like food bags from a couple different restaurants. She ordered delivery enough to recognize take out bags but these looked like they were overflowing with food. At least, theoretically, they weren't going to let her starve, that is, if any of that was for her.

 

“Oh hey, you're awake!” The boy, Jack, greeted with a big friendly smile. It seemed genuine and like when she was hiding under her desk, she felt she could trust him. Funny how something that was probably only a few hours ago felt like weeks. “Do you remember who I am?”

 

“Umm, Jack, right? And that's Sam Winchester and Castiel?” What a strange name for a man who looked like an old fashioned travelling salesman. Maybe it was his last name?Now that the other three were back, she had no chance at all, if she even had one to begin with, of trying to make a break for it. Crap!

 

“That's right! We went and got food but we didn't know what you would like so I insisted we get a good variety. Hopefully we got something you like. Are you hungry, Dr. Baylor?”

 

“A little, I guess.” She was actually starving but she didn't entirely trust these guys. What if they were trying to lull her into a false sense of security? She barely knew them, how could she trust them? “I'm more confused than anything. Who are you guys? Who were those people in my office? And my biggest question, what the everloving fuck is going on?”

 

Dean turned his head but a hint of an amused chuckle was heard despite his efforts to hide it by covering his mouth with his hand. Sam put his bags down on the table and shrugged off his coat. “We can explain while we eat, Dr. Baylor.”

 

“Olivia. Or Ollie. I feel ancient when someone calls me Dr. Baylor.” It was bad enough that she was getting to the age where she was nearly the same age as the parents of some of her younger students.

 

Sam smiled with a nod. “Okay, Ollie.”

 

It was then she saw herself in the mirror across from the beds above the dresser that held the bolted down TV. “Wait, they punched me. Really hard. How do I look like nothing happened? How long was I out?” Was she still dreaming? She hesitantly touched her face and felt no pain or swelling. It was like it never happened, but it had. She was sure of it. She'd never been punched before, it quite literally made an impact. She'd been so distracted by waking up in a crappy motel that she hadn't even realized her face didn't hurt and she could see out both eyes.

 

“There is a great deal to explain, Ollie. Try eating something, trust me, it helps.” Castiel spoke up. “What kind of food do you like? We have Italian, burgers, Chinese...”

 

“Umm, Italian is fine, please. I actually am pretty hungry.” She probably would have grabbed something at a 24 hour place on the way home from the University if those guys, those demons, hadn't attacked her.

 

Jack seemed rather pleased that they had brought back something she liked. He helped Sam move the room's small table so it was between the two beds and immediately went to work unpacking that specific bag, detailing what each item was. She didn't stop him even though she was very familiar with Olive Garden's menu and selection. It was obvious he wanted to make her feel comfortable and at ease.

 

“I'll let Sam do the explaining, since apparently I'm not very diplomatic.” Dean said with a roll of his eyes, moving over to the table. Jack took a seat on the bed next to him and Castiel sat down next to her. Dean had to be hungry by the way he zeroed in on the bag that held a monster of a burger and then ripped open a bag that seemed near overflowing with fries. Then he stopped himself and offered the ripped bag to her with raised eyebrows. This seemed to shock the other three. She shrugged mentally and took a small handful with a thank you, putting them on a napkin that Jack set out for her. What, did Dean not share food or something?

 

Sam rolled his eyes in turn, having grabbed a chair so he could sit in the spot between the beds, opening up what looked like a salad. How did he get so tall eating rabbit food? “Ignore him. I'll try to keep it simple and we'll answer any questions you have, alright?”

 

She nodded, ripping off a bit of a breadstick and slowly chewing it. She didn't know just when she was going to eat again and her stomach was in knots with this whole business. The one night she should have just gone home or gone to a movie and now she was in a seedy hotel room with three guys and a kid who'd killed four people they claimed were demons. If she hadn't just woken up, she'd be begging herself to.

 

“Alright. We're hunters. We go after the things that people think are myth. Demons, monsters, ghosts, you name it. I saw that your brother was an expert in folklore, so you have an idea of what I mean, right?”

 

She nodded. “Things like vampires and werewolves and ghouls?” Stuff that she'd grown up seeing in movies and learning about as part of various cultures, the way people explained things they couldn't explain or didn't want to, especially before it could be explained by science.

 

“Exactly. They aren't just stories, most of them are real or at the very least, based on real things. We, and other people like us, hunt them and try to save as many people as we can along the way.”

 

“Like me.”

 

“Almost. You see, we got a call from a psychic friend, yes, those are real too, about you. We were lucky that we managed to get to you in time. Do you have any idea why someone would want to hurt you? Anyone at all? An angry student or jealous ex even? You'd be surprised what we've seen some people do in the name of revenge.”

 

She shook her head, taking a long drink of water, her mind's eye flashing with the image of those black eyes. “No, no one. I'm just a boring professor. I don't really date or anything and I've never had issues with neighbors or students. I don't know why this is happening to me.”

 

Her voice must have given away how she felt, Castiel putting his hand gently on her shoulder. “It's okay. We're going to figure this out and more importantly, keep you safe.”

 

“Thank you.” She couldn't explain it but somehow she felt a little calmer. Castiel had some kind of magic hands or something because she honestly felt better after he put his hand on her shoulder. “I'm sorry if I ask any really stupid questions.”

 

“You won't know if you don't ask.” Dean piped up, already halfway through his burger.

 

“Funny, I tell my students that all the time.”

 

“But if we tell you to do something, it's a really good idea to listen to us. A lot of the time, it can be the matter of living or dying. Not trying to scare you, just being honest.” He added. She was getting a sense that he didn't mince words.

 

“Honesty is good at this point.” She took another bite of bread after dipping it in some marinara. Depriving herself of food wouldn't help her at all. “So how did you all get started? I mean, how long have you been doing this?”

 

“All our lives really. It's kind of the family business. Our mom was raised a hunter and our dad's dad was part of a group called the Men of Letters.”

 

She stiffened at the familiar title. “Wait. Men of Letters. That's real?”

 

Sam's eyebrows rose, no doubt surprised she recognized the name. “It was, well, it still is. How do you know about them?”

 

She shook her head. “In my research over the years, I've read probably thousands of letters and diaries from politicians, soldiers and civilians during the 19th century but especially during the war. One of my projects is getting them all scanned and analyzed.” She took a deep breath. “I remember seeing references to it but I didn't think anything of it really. I thought they were referring to wanting to be thought of as educated. High class. Maybe a secret society, like a rival to the Masons or something that actually managed to stay super secret. They loved their elite secret societies back then. Who were they? Hunters?”

 

“Kind of. They were more like watchers than anything else. They worked to amass as much knowledge as they could but rarely went out into the field unless necessary. Actually, you might be interested in some of the books we have back at the Bunker. They stretch back decades and chronicle everything. We added our own since most of the ones there only go to the 1950s”

 

“What happened then?”

 

“A Knight of Hell, a demon, named Abaddon managed to sneak her way into their main headquarters and slaughtered everyone. Our grandfather escaped to our time, that's how we met him.”

 

“Wait. Your grandfather time travelled? Actually travelled from the past to our time?” Someone had to have drugged her and this was her fever dream or something. Time travel? Demons? Hunters?

 

“Yup. We've done it too. I actually worked with Eliot Ness and we even went back to the 1860s.” Dean paused. “Oh and I killed Hitler. You're welcome.”

 

She looked to the other three who just rolled their eyes at his boast and decided it was time for what was probably a stupid question. “What, did you travel back to 1945 or something?” Was he trying to tell her that the accepted history of Hitler's death by suicide in his Berlin bunker wasn't true?

 

Of course, if demons were real, anything was possible.

 

“Nah. Some Nazi necromancers put his soul into a watch like one of those Harry Potter things and brought him back the other year. I shot him in the head.” Dean seemed really proud of himself and actually didn't sound like someone making up a story.

 

She put her fingertips to her forehead and let a breath out through her nose. She needed to remain calm. Nazi necromancers? “I'm seriously losing my mind.”

 

“It would be easier to say you were, but you aren't.” She looked up to see a gentle comforting smile on Sam's face. “Sorry.”

 

“So you've been doing this your whole lives?”

 

“Pretty much. Our mother was killed by a demon when I was a baby, Dean was just a kid and that's what got our dad into hunting and we just went right along.”

 

“I'm sorry." She paused. "It's a little ironic actually. My mom, she died when I was a kid too. She had some mental problems on top of a drinking problem and well, behind the wheel of a car, that's a bad combo. My brother and I ended up going into education, just like our dad.” She shook her head. The two pairs of siblings took very different paths but both had followed in their father's footsteps after the death of their mothers. “Jimmy, my brother, would have so many specific questions for you, stuff I'd never even think to ask.”

 

“You don't have to ask everything tonight. You're kind of stuck with us until we figure out what those demons want with you. They didn't ask you any questions or anything? Maybe try to look for something in your office? Maybe chant something in another language?” Dean piped up again.

 

She shook her head. “No. I was getting ready to leave and they just burst into my office. I think one said, there she is, that's the one. And then the one I elbowed and kicked in the nuts called me a bitch before he slugged me.” Her hand moved to her face again, still amazed that she had no black eye from that hit or that she hadn't been knocked out.

 

“That was very brave of you to do, to fight back. You should feel proud.” Castiel encouraged.

 

“I didn't get away, so it didn't really work.”

 

“It gave a few extra seconds for me to get to you in time, every moment counts.”

 

“Yeah, take it from the old guy, he knows a lot about time.” Dean said with a teasing tone.

 

“Old? Castiel doesn't look much over 40.”

 

“I'm sorry, but you would be very wrong. I'm actually much much older than that. My vessel was around that age.” He paused and then realized that didn't answer anything. “I am an angel of the lord.”

 

“An angel?” She looked at the man again, confused and a little underwhelmed. This was an angel? “Where are your wings? Angels don't have wings?” Olivia couldn't believe what they were telling her, it all seemed too fantastic. So then, had Castiel managed to render her unconscious with a touch of his fingers? He must have because she had no memory of leaving her office after he touched her, just blackness until she woke up here. Nevermind that her eye was healed. “You look like a travelling salesman.”

 

Dean snorted with amusement, wiping at his mouth with a napkin. “Cas, amp up a little and show her.”

 

Castiel stood and moved so he was standing against the wall back by what was probably the bathroom. Olivia watched in shock as first his eyes lightened and then glowed with a blue light and then the shadow of actual wings could be seen against the wall with it's garish wallpaper. She could almost feel something she couldn't explain, almost like trying to remember a dream. It was something familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. Had she met angels before and not known it? Why wasn't she scared? Is this why his touch seemed to calm her down?

 

“Holy....I mean...umm. Wow.”

 

“It's okay Ollie, we kinda had the same reaction the first time we met Cas too. It's a lot to take in.” Sam said gently. “He's one of the good ones.”

 

“There are bad angels?”

 

“Most of them are assholes.” Dean said in what seemed to be his usual blunt way. “Sorry Cas, but you know it's true.”

 

“And, are you....are you an angel too, Jack?” She asked. It would explain why she felt like she could trust him back in her office. “Is it a rude thing to ask?”

 

Jack smiled in his friendly way. “It's not rude. Sam tells me all the time that I won't learn if I don't ask questions, just like you tell your students. I'm half angel. My mother was human.”

 

“And your dad is an angel?” She didn't want to make another presumption but she assumed Castiel was his father. He was the spitting image of the guy.

 

“My biological father is an archangel but I consider Castiel, Sam and Dean to be my dads. They raised me, take care of me and teach me.” He smiled as he looked at the three who perked up proudly at the admiration in the boy's voice.

 

“Oh. I just thought you were related to Castiel. I mean, you look like him. That's why I guessed you were an angel too.”

 

“I chose to look like Castiel. His vessel anyway. He kept my mother safe and she trusted him to protect me.”

 

“Ollie, Jack's a little younger than he looks. Actually a lot younger.” Sam said softly. “He's technically not even 2 years old yet.”

 

She blinked. He looked at least 20. How was he barely 2? She didn't have children of her own but she had a basic understanding that most 2 year olds were much smaller and much less articulate at the very least. Though if she was honest, she'd had a few permanently drunken frat boys in her classes over the years that disputed that. “What? Wait, what happened to your mom?” Had she been killed by a demon like Sam and Dean's mom?

 

“She didn't survive my birth.” Jack said softly. “Humans and archangels aren't really meant to have sex and procreate. It's one of the main rules of Heaven. But my biological father never liked following rules. I try to follow the rules though. I help people.”

 

“You definitely do that, buddy.” Dean encouraged.

 

Olivia's mind whirled. Archangel who didn't follow the rules? That sounded familiar and not in a good way. “Wait. Is your father Lucifer?”

 

Four pairs of eyebrows went up, surprised at her question. “How did you know that?” Castiel asked with what seemed to be a perpetually flat tone as he returned to his spot next to her. “How could you know that?”

 

“My brother's speciality was comparative religions. I have Masters degree in it. Different religions have different angels as archangels but one that was known pretty universally for being a troublemaker was Lucifer. I was right?”

 

Holy shit. Lucifer was real and this kid was his? Apparently the old Omen movies had gotten it wrong. There was no way that this kid was the Anti-Christ. He was too sweet and eager to please.

 

Lucifer was a real person? Being? Fucking hell. Literally.

 

“He's my biological father but that's it. I'm nothing like him. I will never be like him.”

 

Ollie nodded, the boy's tone familiar to her own when she thought of how her mother's drinking had led to her death. “I'm sorry Jack. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm trying to understand all of this. I'm just a history professor and now I'm being told that all the stuff my brother taught about was real, not just stories created over the years.” She ran her hand over her hair. “Why is this happening to me? Why would actual demons want to hurt me?”

 

“I don't know. We're going to find out though. More than that, we're going to keep you safe. Can you trust us to do that?” Dean asked.

 

She looked at the four faces looking back at her and decided to go with her gut. “Yeah. I think I can. I just want to understand.”

 

“I get that, Ollie. Just keep in mind, what you find out, you might not like. Trust me. That's something we've learned more than once over the years.”

 

“I'll be honest, I don't like it all that much already.” She sighed. Now that she was a bit calmer, she felt a bit remiss. “Thank you, though. For saving me.”

 

“No need to thank us but you are welcome.” Sam gave her a smile and a nod. “Once you have some time to wrap your head around it, you'll feel better.”

 

“I know what might help. It always works on TV.” Jack got up and dug in one of the other bags and brought out a chocolate bundt cake with what looked like chocolate frosting. “Do you like chocolate?”

 

She couldn't help but smile at the boy, trying so desperately to be helpful and make her feel better with her world turned upside down. Definitely not the Anti-Christ. “I love chocolate. Thank you, sweetheart. It works in real life too.”

 

“Oh hey, we were wondering something. Back at your office, you had what looked like an overnight bag. We'd call it a go bag. Were you planning on taking a trip or something?” Sam asked, waving off Jack's offer of a piece of cake. Apparently he really tried to stay healthy. Salad and no cake? Again, how did he get so tall?

 

“Oh.” She shrugged. “I have a bad habit of staying late at my office and sometimes it's just not worth the effort of going back to my house just to turn around for class. Sometimes I nap in my office and then shower at the gym. I haven't left Chicago in years, no reason to.” She accepted the generous portion of cake that Jack sliced for her, handing it over on a napkin. She still hadn't eaten much of the feast that Jack had laid out for her in terms of pasta and breadsticks but the way her stomach was grumbling, that was not going to be a problem. Just the same, eating some dessert first wouldn't hurt.

 

“Well at least you'll have enough for a few days. We grabbed your computer and Jack grabbed some stuff off your desk that you might want too. Don't worry about money, we'll take care of everything. We can't have you using your credit cards anyway.”

 

“Demons do traces on credit cards?” The cake was delicious and she nodded in thanks to Jack who was watching her to see if she indeed liked it. He smiled in return and went back to slicing the cake.

 

“Trust me, if they want to find someone bad enough, they do just about anything.” Dean spoke up, happily taking a large slice of cake. “Normally I'm pie guy, but these bundt cake things are awesome.”

 

“I like nougat. Like in candy bars. It was the first food I had after I was born. Do you like nougat, Ollie?” Jack asked, sitting down with his own slice of cake but putting it to the side and going for the Chinese food first.

 

“I do. I like all kinds of candy. It's what powered me through my doctorates.” She set the cake aside and decided to tackle the huge container of pasta that was making her stomach rumble. “I'm guessing you are a health nut, Sam?”

 

Sam shrugged, a half smile revealing a dimple in his cheek. “Yeah I guess I am. I like being healthy. Someone's gotta be in this family.”

 

“I made sure not to get MSG.” Jack muttered in defense around a mouthful of noodles.

 

Dean snorted, giving the boy a squeeze to his shoulder. “You are doing just fine Jack. That was directed at me.” He looked to Ollie. “Since Jack's half human, he can and does eat. Cas on the other hand doesn't have to.”

 

She looked to the angel who had been quietly eating what looked like Boston Market chicken. “You don't have to, but you choose to?”

 

“It's an experience. I enjoyed it more, the brief time I was human a few years ago. I had to relearn how to not taste every molecule.”

 

Ollie blinked. “Ok, so you were human for a time?”

 

“You see Ollie, angel power comes from something called grace. Without it, they just become human. But losing it can also kill them, depending on how it's done or how long they go without it. Jack here, has grace but it's part of his human DNA and for some reason, that makes him more powerful.”

 

“Best of both worlds kind of thing?”

 

Sam and Dean looked at each other, shrugged then looked to Castiel who nodded thoughtfully. “That's a logical conclusion.”

 

“Logic's always been my strong suit.” Ollie said with her own shrug, absently throwing up the Vulcan salute.

 

What she didn't expect was a gasp from Dean and a groan from Sam.

 

“Are you....are you into Star Trek?”

 

“Yes? My brother was a huge fan and practically raised me on it.” She said hesitantly. “Is that a problem?”

 

“No, it makes you awesome.” Dean grinned.

 

*****

 

“You must be getting tired, Ollie. Even with the whammy Cas put on you.” Dean spoke up from where he sat on the other bed. They'd been talking so long, she expected to see daylight to be coming in the dirty blinds but in reality it was only 3am. They'd been very patient in answering her questions and she had a feeling the questions they'd asked her had been their attempt to try and figure out just why she was a target.

 

“Yeah. A little. Food coma plus being a bit overwhelmed.” They'd emphasized more than once that there was a strong chance she wouldn't be able to get back to her life for a while. Then there had been going over things to watch out for. Thankfully it was the end of the semester and new classes wouldn't start for roughly 3 weeks. Maybe she could be hopeful that whatever this is would be solved by then?

 

“I know you probably want your privacy but at least one of us needs to stay here with you. We have the room next door too but with demons, we don't want to take the chance.” Sam spoke up, having cleaned up all the food dishes and bags with Jack. Somehow, they'd managed to go through the mass of food without leaving very much left over. She was really surprised at just how much Dean could eat and yet be so slender.

 

“But I thought the salt at the doors and windows will keep them out?” He'd explained earlier when she'd gotten up to use the bathroom that salt, silver and iron were the three most basic weapons of a hunter. She didn't understand why demons didn't just go through walls or whatever but these guys were the experts. They'd saved her life once already.

 

“Nothing is perfect and like before, a few seconds can make the difference.”

 

“Castiel and I can stay to keep watch. We don't sleep anyway. Will that bother you?” Jack spoke up. “We will be very quiet.”

 

“Umm, that should be okay.” She looked down at what she was wearing. If she was home, she'd change into some comfy jammies and go to bed. She didn't exactly pack those in her overnight bag for campus. “If only I'd known I'd be a target for demons, I would have packed something to sleep in while on the run.”

 

“Doc, at this point, the faster you can be up and out the door, the better.” Dean said with a shrug. “We can give ya one of Sam's shirts if you really want. They'd probably reach your ankles.”

 

Ollie covered her mouth to hide her amusement as Sam smacked his brother upside the head. “Thanks, I'll be okay.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind that this story goes AU about midway thru the season 13 finale. There is no deficit of angels. There are tons of angels. A plethora.
> 
> Thanks for reading.

**Ollie POV**

Ollie woke up to find a unique and cute sight, even if she only barely knew these guys. Castiel and Jack, sitting side by side on the other bed watching what looked like cartoons with the sound off. Both tilted their heads as they watched Daffy Duck ruin the plans of Marvin the Martian. Apparently even if Jack was technically only 2 years old, he didn't have any problems enjoying programs meant for children. Though, if she was completely honest, she still enjoyed cartoons herself.

 

He turned his head to see that she was awake. “Good morning Ollie. Did you sleep okay? Castiel was able to keep you from having any bad dreams. I'm still learning.”

 

“Morning Jack. Castiel. I did sleep okay. I was so exhausted, I don't think I did dream, but thank you for keeping bad dreams away.” She sat up slowly with a yawn, still trying even after some natural sleep to wrap her head around how much her life had changed in less than a day. This time yesterday the only thing she'd been thinking about was classes being over for the semester and now, everything was different. Now there was an angel keeping her from having bad dreams and the door was lined with salt to keep out demons. Could she ever be the same person just knowing the tiny fraction she now knew of the truth?

 

“Certainly. I have much experience with it thanks to Sam and Dean.” Castiel stood up and nonchalantly opened the door to the other room. He cleared his throat and without changing his expression, dodged a boot that had been thrown at his head. It bounced off the door with a harmless thunk. “You wanted me to wake you when Ollie woke up. She is awake. I'll go get coffee.”

 

There was the sound of cursing and another thrown shoe before he closed the door and turned back to the room. “I'm going to guess Dean isn't a morning person?” She couldn't see Sam being like that.

 

“He's like a bear. An angry bear.” Jack said. “I don't recommend approaching him until he has had coffee. Do you want some?”

 

She shook her head. “I've never liked coffee but if there's an energy drink somewhere, I'll have that. Ironically, given everything I've learned in the last 12 hours, I still prefer Monster.”

 

“I'll pick one of those and some donuts. Jack, stay with Ollie while I go down to the coffee shop.”

 

Jack nodded and Castiel opened the door that Ollie had noticed the night before had a strange pentagram looking thing on it in what she hoped was chalk. Then again, a motel like this had probably seen much worse than some drawing on the door and spilled salt everywhere. She tried not to think of all those shows that exposed just how nasty some hotels and motels could be. This wasn't exactly the Ritz. He looked around cautiously before stepping over the salt line and closing the door behind him.

 

There was a knock on the connecting door. “Ollie, are you decent?” It was Sam.

 

“Yeah Sam, come on in.”

 

The younger but taller hunter stepped in, over the salt line that had even been put on that doorway, his shaggy hair a muss. He was dressed much like he had been last night but didn't have shoes on. She guessed Dean wasn't kidding about being ready to run out the door as necessary. Maybe it was just because of the current situation. She couldn't imagine living your whole life like that. “I hope the shoe thing didn't startle you.”

 

She laughed. “No, it was more amusing at how prepared for it Castiel was.”

 

“Considering we sleep with weapons nearby and usually under our pillows too, it pays to have angelic reflexes.” He sat down on the unused bed, running his hand through his hair. She was impressed how easily he was able to tame the mop with just the simple gesture. “How are you feeling this morning?”

 

“I'm okay. Some sleep really did help. Jack and Castiel kept me safe.” She gave the boy a smile and she swore he stood a little straighter in pride.

 

“Good job, Jack.” Sam praised with a nod. “Dean and I will probably do a drive by of your house with Jack while Castiel keeps you safe here. I'm wagering that there are more demons there waiting and hoping you'll come back to the house once they realize the other ones didn't succeed. Right now what we have going for us is that no one knows that we're involved yet.”

 

“Well the police are probably all over my office with four dead bodies and stuff, right?” She could just imagine the chaos and how many people were wondering where she was.

 

“There's no sign anything happened there. Helps to have an angel and a nephilim on the payroll.” Sam joked. “I doubt we'll try to go in, but if we do, is there anything you want us to grab? Anything that is irreplaceable, I mean.”

 

“Umm, my dad and brother's urns? They are right in the living room. Anything else I guess can wait. I want them with me though.” She picked at the blanket in her lap. “Kind of stupid with what's going on right now I guess.”

 

“Not at all.” Sam said, his eyes soft and understanding. “If we can get in there, we'll grab them. I promise.”

 

**Sam POV**

“Okay doc, you know the drill. You stay with Cas in this room and away from the windows. If anything happens, Cas is going to get you out and we'll catch up.” Dean instructed as they stepped into Ollie's room, changed from their normal hunter clothes to their FBI garb.

 

Ollie looked up from where she'd been sitting on the bed, a towel wrapped around her head post shower as she ate a donut. Her brow furrowed in confusion. “Are you going undercover as GQ models?”

 

Sam bit his cheek at the way Dean seemed to puff up with pride and shook his head to Jack who seemed confused by the reference. He had to remember, the kid was honestly only two years old and knew more than most people considered elderly but some stuff slipped past. “Actually, we're going undercover as FBI though if we can avoid people seeing us at your house, the better.” He took his fake ID out of his pocket just as Dean and Jack did.

 

Ollie's eyebrow went up. “And people believe that the FBI allow hair that long on male agents?”

 

Dean snorted. “You'd think they'd question it but they don't usually see much past the badge and the suit. Trust me, we do this all the time. Now just sit tight and listen to Cas. This should be a quick in and out.”

 

“Okay.” Ollie took a deep breath. “Please be careful.”

 

“We will.” Jack said with a serious nod.

 

 

**Ollie POV**

Ollie returned from the bathroom and took a seat on the bed, Castiel standing near the window, keeping an eye out for any potential danger as well as the return of the others. They'd gone out in suits, explaining that people tended to ignore you if you looked official and they often went undercover as FBI agents. Dean had been amused by her question of how that worked with Sam's long hair. “They still aren't back? It shouldn't take that long to get to my house and back unless they took the most elaborate route ever.”

 

“They might have gotten delayed. I'm not worried yet. Are you doing alright?”

 

She nodded. The long shower she'd taken before they left had helped quite a bit. She just had to take this like she'd been taking most everything since her brother had died. One day at a time and if that was too much, one hour at a time or even a minute at a time. She was safe, that was the important thing. Castiel was literally being her guardian angel. How many people could say that they were literally being protected by an actual angel? “Yeah. I'm okay. Can I ask you something?”

 

“Of course. I will do my best to tell you what I know.”

 

“Umm, Heaven. There's an actual heaven right?”

 

“Yes, there is.” He turned from the window and moved to sit on the other bed opposite her. “What would you like to know about it?”

 

“How...I mean...is it what people think it is? I mean...” she stumbled over her words. “I guess I just wonder if my dad and my brother are there. That they are safe?”

 

“I'm sure they are. Do you have reason to think they wouldn't be?”

 

She shook her head. “No, but until last night I didn't know angels were actually real. What is it like?”

 

“It is different for everyone. You create your own heaven.”

 

“Oh. So it's not just everyone milling around on clouds then, huh?”

 

“No, not at all. It's more like a large hotel and everyone has their own suite. Some people share, but for the most part, everyone is separate.”

 

“Separate? You mean, we aren't reunited with our families when we die? Our loved ones?”

 

“You are, it's complicated.”

 

She decided she didn't want to delve into complicated. Something told her if her situation wasn't figured out quickly and dealt with, she'd have a lot of time to delve into the complicated.

 

Before either of them could say anything else, there was the rumble of a car outside the room that made Castiel react. “There they are, finally!” He got up quickly and moved to the window of the room, cautious to only peek out it and not disturb the salt. His face changed from one of relief to one of confusion.

 

Before Ollie could ask what was wrong, Castiel had moved to the door and opened it, letting the three in. Sam and Dean both looked like they had gotten in a street fight, Sam's shirt torn, tie wrapped around his hand, his cheek bruised and Dean with a bloody lip. Behind them, Jack walked in with a box. He had what looked like a black eye and a cut on his chin, but it was like he didn't care by the proud way he carried himself. She could see how people might believe he was an agent in training.

 

“What happened? I thought you weren't going to try to go in if there were any demons.” Castiel asked, looking troubled as he closed and locked the door behind them. Obviously he didn't like the fact that they had all been in danger and he hadn't been there to help.

 

“There weren't any demons.” Dean grumbled, slumping into a chair while Sam took a seat on the bed. “This was from a couple of your asshole siblings that were waiting for us.”

 

It was then she noticed, when he removed the tie, that Sam's hand was cut and bleeding. Without speaking or even knowing what to say, Ollie jumped up and ran to the bathroom, grabbing some washcloths and wetting them before grabbing towels and bringing them back out to the room. “Angels did this?” She gently reached for Sam's hand, dabbing at it and probably wincing more than he was. It was a nasty cut right across his palm. She tried to focus on how big his hands were to hers instead of the nasty wound that was still bleeding. “Angels are after me now?”

 

“Well, not anymore. Not those particular three anyway.” Sam said, giving her a nod of thanks before taking the cloth from her to take care of himself.

 

She moved to Dean, offering him the washcloth before she attempted to just try and help him. She wasn't sure if he was grumpy about getting hurt as he was about being woken up in the morning. He sighed, realizing her hesitation and tilted his head for her. “It's not bad, Ollie. I've had worse.”

 

“It looks bad enough to me.” She carefully dabbed at the wound before taking another dry cloth and gently pressing it, taking one of his hands to make him hold it there. “I feel awful that you got hurt because of me.”

 

“But we had to. We had to go in.” Jack argued. He put down the box he'd been holding and carefully reached in to pull out the familiar urn that held her brother's ashes. “We had to get your dad and your brother.”

 

Ollie could have cried at how heartfelt and adamant the boy was that their injuries were worth it just to retrieve the ashes of her family. “Jack.” She put her hand over his, urging him to put Jimmy's urn back in the box. “Sweetheart, you barely know me. You really didn't need to do that for me, risk yourselves. Thank you though.”

 

“Family is important, not matter what.” He said simply.

 

“That's very true. Thank you.” She winced yet again, looking at his eye. Was that what her eye looked like last night before it was healed? “Can Castiel heal you? Like he did to my eye?”

 

“I can heal myself. Watch!” Jack reached out and had her take a step back before his eyes glowed a deep gold and like that, his eye was no longer swollen and the cut was gone. “Better?”

 

“That's amazing Jack.” She turned to where Castiel was touching Dean's forehead, instantly healing him. Maybe it had something to do with the chakras? The supposed third eye? She'd have to ask later. The elder hunter pulled away the bloody washcloth to reveal a lip that looked like it had never been split at all. “How did they cut your hand Sam?”

 

“Sam did that to himself.” Dean spoke up, walking over and taking Sam's bloody washcloth to toss in the garbage with his own. Even with the bleeding slowed, the cut still looked nasty as hell. “There's a sigil, a symbol, that you can do in blood to banish angels. It's pretty handy if you can get a chance to draw it.”

 

“Wait, how did that not hurt Jack? Is that how Jack got hurt?” She was confused at how this sigil would hurt the other angels but not Jack as she watched Castiel heal Sam.

 

“I didn't get a chance to finish it before Jack took them out. There's different kinds and we use an alternate one that doesn't affect Jack. You have to understand, as a nephilim, especially the child of an archangel, he's much more powerful than pretty much every angel and every archangel.”

 

“Oh wow. That's handy.”

 

“I'm still learning though. I try not to use my powers too much because that just attracts more angels and they aren't my biggest fans.”

 

“They don't like our family very much period, buddy.” Dean said, clapping Jack on the shoulder. “You did good. The important thing is that we got Ollie's family out and now we know we need to keep her safe from angels too.” He looked to Ollie with a shrug. “Sorry.”

 

“I don't understand this at all! I'm just a history professor! What could I have or do that would have Heaven and Hell both out to get me?” She wanted to cry, clenching her fists at her side and feeling her nails dig into the palms. She hated when things didn't make sense. She was a smart woman and it was beyond frustrating to be this utterly clueless, nevermind powerless. “What do they want?!”

 

“Hey, hey.” Sam stood and put his huge hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. He bent his knees so he was a little more at her level, not towering over her. “Breathe, okay? Getting upset isn't going to get us any answers. I know you are scared and I totally understand but we really need you to try and stay in control, okay? We are going to figure this out and more importantly, we are going to keep you safe. Trust us, this is what we do.”

 

She looked up into his eyes and sighed. He seemed to be a very genuine caring guy, they all did even if Dean seemed a little rougher around the edges. “I'll try.”

 

He gave her a smile of encouragement and another squeeze to her shoulders before letting go. “That's all we ask.”

 

“Cas, you need to ward her against angels like you did to us. Hell, you should probably do us again too. Just in case word gets out of our involvement.” Dean spoke up as Sam sat with her back on the bed. “Jack, are you picking up any winged assholes nearby?”

 

Jack's eyes flared and he shook his head. “Not that I can sense but it doesn't mean they aren't looking for us.”

 

“What do you mean ward me?” Ollie asked. “Like one of those blood things?”

 

“No, a little more invasive.” Dean scratched the back of his neck, no doubt trying to figure out a way to explain it that someone like her, completely new to all of this, would understand. “A few years ago Cas had to keep us hidden from angels because they needed us for the Apocalypse. Since then, we've both, well we don't have the warding anymore.”

 

“Invasive how?” Could he be anymore confusing. The Apocalypse? They both what? Had the warding wear off somehow? Only work for a short period of time? That didn't seem to be very convenient if you were trying to stay hidden.

 

“I carve Enochian symbols on your ribs that keep you hidden. I can modify it so that while other angels wouldn't be able to find you, Jack and I would. It would be helpful that if you are prone to praying that you refrain so that other angels cannot hear you.”

 

Ollie blinked at the trenchcoat wearing angel. He spoke like carving on people's ribs was an everyday thing. Was it an everyday thing for angels? “You carve on my ribs. On the bone?”

 

“It's not a surgery or anything and it only hurts for a second.” Sam was quick to try and sooth. “Here, he can do me first so you can see.” He turned back to Castiel, standing up and dropping his arms, putting his shoulders back. “Go ahead Cas.”

 

Castiel took a step forward and put his hand against Sam's chest and there was a brief glow from his palm and eyes and a grunt of pain from Sam and that was it. “All done.”

 

“See? That didn't hurt.” Sam said, with a little bit of a wince as he rubbed at his chest.

 

“You are such a wuss.” Dean said with a roll of his eyes, walking over and all but thrusting his chest at Castiel, turning his head to the side. Castiel did the same thing and Dean only tensed his jaw, managing not to make a noise. “Fuck, Cas, did ya have to put it in cursive?” He rubbed at his chest just like Sam did.

 

“I did have to alter it from the last time.” The angel said simply. He turned to Ollie. “I can render you unconscious to do it, if you would prefer not to experience any discomfort. It is important that we block you from angelic sight as soon as possible though.”

 

“I can handle it.” She stood up and took a deep breath. She had gotten over her fear of needles during that hellish year that Jimmy was dying, she could handle having a few seconds of discomfort while an angel etched on her ribs, right? It's not like he was cutting her open or anything. Easy. “Okay, do it.”

 

Castiel gave her a nod before putting his hand to her chest, just above her sternum. She felt a rush run through her before the pain hit and she let out a cry that she couldn't help before the angel removed his hand. She stumbled and she felt two pairs of hands grab for her and ease her to sitting on the bed.

 

“Cas, what the hell was that?” Dean's voice. “Ollie? You okay? Open your eyes, it's over. Just take a deep breath.”

 

She opened her eyes, not even realizing she'd closed them to see both hunters looking at her in concern. “How can you say that doesn't hurt?” She put her hand to her chest, knowing it wouldn't help and almost expecting to feel the etching through the skin. She felt like she got kicked.

 

“It didn't, for us. But when Cas did it to you, something was different. Cas?”

 

The angel looked troubled. “It was like something in you was resisting me at first but then relented. There's some kind of magic on you, a protection spell of some kind.”

 

“A what?” Magic? Seriously?

 

“Your eyes lit up for a moment, like Cas or Jack, but it wasn't blue or gold, it was a bluish silver.” Sam informed her. “How do you feel?”

 

“Very confused. I didn't even know magic or angels or anything were real until last night. My eyes lit up? How could I have a spell on me? How could there be something in me to resist an angel?”

 

“It's very easy to put magic on someone without their knowledge. But there were no hex bags on you or in your office or belongings.” Castiel said with a shake of his hand. “It wasn't a negative magic, it was protective. Is there a chance your mother could have been a witch?”

 

“I doubt it. She was a potentially late stage schizophrenic alcoholic. Doubt that's a good combo with magic spells.”

 

“Well whatever it is, it's not something that's hurting you or anything so we'll just take it at face value for the moment, how about that?” Dean spoke up. “Here's another question for you. Do you have an aversion to tattoos?”

 

She put her head in her hands. “Dean, are you trying to give me a migraine?”

 

Sam's hand rested on her back gently, practically taking up half her back given his huge hands. “For once, he's not. We have you protected from angels, now we need to protect you from demons. From being possessed that is. We have these tattoos to protect us.”

 

She looked up to see the brothers and Jack pulling their shirts aside to show the same tattoo that looked like a stylized pentagram in almost a flame like design. Castiel had one on his stomach that looked like lines of a strange language. “That keeps demons out? That looks like something from some emo band. Demons can possess angels?”

 

“It does keep them out and angel vessels can be possessed. Basically, that's what Cas is doing right now. His body actually belonged to a guy named Jimmy Novac who gave him permission to use him as his vessel. Jack is half human, so he has no need for a vessel. Understand?”

 

“I think so.” She sighed. “Well I guess if I can stand having my ribs carved on, I can just go full hog and get a tattoo. Why not?” She looked to Sam. “But someone is gonna need to hold my hand and then buy me ice cream after because fucking hell I need it.”

 

Dean chuckled. “We can definitely do that, doc.”

 

**Sam POV**

Sam looked to Dean while they packed up the few things they had in the other hotel room. “I know what you're thinking. She's a shifter. Cas would have been able to tell.”

 

Dean sat on the end of the bed, running his hand over his hair. “I don't know what I think but yeah I did think shifter when her eyes flared. Could she be a witch? Like a naturally born one and maybe someone put a spell on her to bind her powers. Like that coven did to Rowena but just a complete binding?”

 

“They bound her but she was still able to do a lot of magic. What's the point in a spell like that if it keeps her from doing even instinctual magic to protect herself?” He shook his head. “I don't know what the deal might be except the fact that she's got both heaven and hell looking for her. I have a bad feeling about this.”

 

“You and me both, little brother. Either way, we protect her.” He smiled a little. “Jack's got her wrapped around his finger already, did you notice that?”

 

Sam chuckled. “Yeah I did. He's good at that. He managed to win over Rowena and that's even with the whole Lucifer thing.”

 

“Yeah. She's been different, in the last year. Almost good.”

 

“Almost. She's saved our asses, I'll give her that much.”

 

“Maybe that's part of the thing with Ollie. We save her so she can save us? Have you gotten through to that psychic yet?”

 

“No.” He checked his phone before tucking it back into his pocket. “I've left a couple messages. You know how psychics can be. What I wouldn't give to have Missouri back. Even if she did give me a hard time. She was good people. Deserved better.”

 

Sam nodded silently, thinking of the brutal death the psychic had suffered, sacrificing herself in a way to protect her granddaughter. “Pamela too.”

 

“Yeah. But at least we know she's okay, you know, upstairs. That's kind of a comfort.”

 

Sam shrugged. It didn't change how either woman had died or how so many of the souls in heaven had died to end up there. “Let's get this taken care of and get Ollie back to the Bunker where it's safe. The longer we're out in the open the more potential danger she's in.”

 

**Ollie POV**

She stepped outside of the room with Castiel and Jack when they saw Dean heading back from the motel office. Sam already at a classic looking black car, popping the trunk to put her bags in the back. “That's your car?”

 

“Yep. This is Baby. Baby, this is Ollie.”

 

“Wow. She's beautiful.” She walked over, barely touching it with her fingertips. “Like a showroom model or something.”

 

“I like to think so but she's far from that, I've practically rebuilt her more times than I can count. But she's always gotten us where we need to go all these years.”

 

“And Dean's terrified to fly, so we're lucky to have a reliable car.” Sam spoke up with a smirk.

 

The elder brother rolled his eyes, flipping Sam off. “Just for that, bitch, you can sit in the back.” He made a show of going to the passenger door and opening it for Ollie. “Milady?”

 

She shook her head, amused by the dynamic of the brothers. Dean seemed the more gruff one but also had a sense of humor and no problems expressing himself. Sam on the other hand seemed more cerebral, more serious but also more compassionate and caring. She wondered if when they were growing up, Dean was always taking care of Sam so he had to be tougher to keep his little brother safe. “Thank you.”

 

 

**Dean POV**

“Hey, how are ya?” Dean greeted the tattoo guy. Hopefully getting the anti-possession tattoo on Ollie would go easier than getting Jack's had. They'd finally figured out the way to do it where he wouldn't potentially throw the tattoo artist through the wall or have the design simply absorbed by his powers. Well, Rowena had figured it out. “My sister-in-law, sorry, my soon to be sister-in-law here, is looking to get the family tattoo. It's kind of a crest, you know? Could you do this design for us?”

 

He turned, immediately seeing the look of death on Sam's face and just a raised eyebrow on Ollie's before she moved subtly to stand closer to Sam and put her arm through his. The little professor was quick. If Sam didn't think he still had some vengeance coming for that crack about his hesitance to fly, he was crazy. You didn't go around just blabbing about people's fears like that! “It's not a complicated design, you can do it quick right? Right here?” She put her hand on her chest, indicating the same spot that they had theirs. “I'm hoping to have it healed and everything before the wedding. Don't want to leave it to the last minute!”

 

Dean was going to bite a hole in his cheek in his effort not to break and laugh. She was good.

 

“You don't look like the tattooing type, lady. You sure? Laser removal takes time and hurts like hell if you decide to change your mind. It's not cheap either.”

 

“Excuse me! Are you doubting my commitment to my fiance?” Ollie fired back before either Dean or Sam could speak up in her defense, surprising them both. “Honey, let's go somewhere else that doesn't have someone so rude.” She turned, her hand moving to tug on Sam's.

 

Dean had to cover his mouth with his hand because the baffled look on Sam's face was even better than it had been when he'd introduced Ollie to the tattoo guy as his soon to be sister-in-law. He had to have his fun where he could and apparently their new professor was a bit of a pistol when she wanted to be. Even Castiel looked like he was trying not to laugh while Jack just looked mildly surprised and confused.

 

The guy spoke up before Sam could. “Hey, lady, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. Really. I always tell first timers that. Alot of people back out, I didn't mean to imply anything. I can do it, hell, I'll take 25% off to make it up to you.”

 

Ollie turned slowly. “Make it 40% and I suppose we could do business.”

 

“Alright, alright, 40.”

 

**Ollie POV**

“Ollie, you are going to fit right in with us.” Dean cackled once they were about a block away from the tattoo place. “That was fucking awesome. Sam's face alone! I should have had my phone out. That would have been my wallpaper for the rest of my life.”

 

Sam didn't say anything but raise his hand with middle finger raised to his brother. He'd been kind enough to be the one to hold her hand while the tattoo was being done and had even cleared his throat at the guy when he'd tugged down on the tank top she'd been wearing for the process a little too far. Now they were heading for ice cream, she hoped. She wasn't sure exactly where that had come from, if Dean had been testing her or if he was just being a punk to his younger brother but she wasn't one to back down from a challenge. Besides, holding hands with a handsome guy wasn't too bad either.

 

She had a tattoo to show for it now.

 

Ollie resisted the urge to touch where her new tattoo was itching like hell and shoved her hands in her pockets. “That guy was being a dick. Ooh the little lady getting pressured into a tattoo! I'll be a hero and save her!” She rolled her eyes. “I hate that shit. Not to mention he was definitely overcharging because you two made him feel insecure.”

 

Dean cackled again, boldly wrapping his arm around her shoulder and hugging her to him, mindful of her tattoo. “Yep, definitely going to fit in! You get extra ice cream for that.”

 

“You bet your ass I do. I've had a day and it's not even dinnertime.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still going with this story though I've been a bit distracted by yet another story idea. Currently obsessed with that though I don't know if I'd ever publish it....it's a bit cliche. That and the complete lack of interest in my other Supernatural fic has me a bit hesitant with putting myself out there anymore than I already have.
> 
> Here's the newest chapter, please let me know what you think! Feedback is awesome.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Sam POV**

Sam turned his head to see Ollie looking out the window from her seat behind Dean. After their trip to the tattoo parlor, she'd insisted on sitting in the back for the trip to Kansas. Her legs were much shorter and there was no reason for him to be uncomfortable because of her. Dean had managed that well enough with his little “fiance” prank. Asshole. Though he'd have to admit, he was kind of impressed with how fast Ollie had reacted. He guessed that when you taught college kids, being able to react quickly came with the territory.

 

Conversation had died out a while ago, after a quick pit stop in Nebraska. She looked almost brooding in the dim light of the occasional streetlight, he couldn't blame her. They were still effective strangers promising they could protect her from a threat that she'd never known really existed. That was a lot to handle, nevermind getting an angel to etch warding on your ribs, find out you have a magical spell on you and getting a tattoo. “You doing okay Ollie?”

 

She turned her head and looked at him with a pensive nod. He didn't know her well yet, but he would have to be blind not to see that she had a lot on her mind. “Yeah. I guess so. Just seems so weird, running off with four guys I barely know, getting a tattoo and going on a roadtrip to Kansas of all places. It's like the weirdest teenage rebellion I never had.”

 

“You didn't rebel, Ollie?” Dean asked, his eyes flicking to the rearview. “I don't believe that. You were just smart enough to not get caught. Admit it.” Sam could tell from Dean's tone that he wanted to try and keep Ollie's spirits up. Sometimes the worst part of the hunter life was pulling back the curtain on what really went on in the world. Some people could handle it, some couldn't. He was pretty sure Ollie was going to be alright but just the same, they were all planning on keeping a close eye on her for however long her stay with them was going to be.

 

“Nope. I was the kid taking my state exams early, AP classes by my sophomore year. No drinking, drugs, any of that. Just good grades and degrees.”

 

“You sound like Sam. His big rebellion was quitting hunting and going to college.” Dean shook his head. “Believe it or not, our dad was pissed as hell. It's a long story.”

 

“I'm guessing because if Sam was at school, how could you keep him safe?”

 

Sam was surprised, sharing a look with Dean. “Wow, that was a really good logic jump.”

 

She shrugged. “I was the baby of my family. I had colleges from all over wanting me to attend and both my dad and brother were adamant I stay in Chicago. They were both really protective of me. Then Daddy died and it was just me and Jimmy. And then, well, I was taking care of Jimmy instead of him taking care of me.”

 

They were quiet for a few minutes. “Sounds like us a bit. Dean and I tend to go back and forth, taking care of each other, even when we insist we're fine. Was Jimmy like that?”

 

“Oh yeah. Stubborn as all get out, right to the end. He wasn't so concerned about dying, you know? He was more worried about leaving me alone. Who was going to keep me safe once he was gone?”

 

“We'll keep you safe, Ollie. For Jimmy and your dad. They sound like they were good men and they loved you very much.” Jack spoke up from his seat in the middle where he'd been quietly observing. Sam couldn't help but feel pride in that moment. Despite their initial fears, Jack was nothing like Lucifer, not even remotely.

 

“Thank you sweetheart, that's really very nice of you.” She chuckled a little. “I was thinking that Jimmy would be throwing a fit right now, about me having a tattoo. He hated them. Well, till the end that was. He got one himself.”

 

“What kind of tattoo did he get?” Castiel asked from his spot behind Sam. Cas had gotten much better at small talk and actually interacting with humans without making things awkward. He had his moments but it was like night and day from the first few years he was in their lives.

 

“Well because of the cancer, he had to have his arm amputated. Before the surgery, they wrote in black Sharpie on his good arm, “NO” in big capital letters underlined.” Sam could see a bit of a smile on her lips as she indicated it on her own arm. “So after, I suggested that would make a really funny tattoo. He dismissed it then but when the cancer came back a couple months later, he went out and did it. I came back from classes and there he was in the living room with “NO” on his left arm.”

 

Dean chuckled. “That's a very dark but awesome sense of humor. I think I would have liked your brother.”

 

“Most everyone did. He was a good guy. He deserved better than what happened to him.” Her voice softened and Sam shared a look with Dean. For them, death was usually always a sudden violent thing even if not always permanent. Sometimes it was almost hard to remember how many times they had both died over the years. He wondered if that was somehow better than the slow, painful wasting away that Jimmy Baylor must have suffered through with his cancer.

 

**Olivia POV**

“This is where you all live?” Ollie asked, seeing all the cars and motorcycles of various years in the decently sized garage. On the way there, Sam had given her a bit of a history of the Bunker, including the fact that they had discovered that Oz was a real place and that Frank L. Baum had been not only a Man of Letters but that his daughter was the real Dorothy. She had a feeling he was just trying to keep her distracted and it was greatly appreciated. She was curious about this mysterious bunker that'd apparently sat empty for decades before the boys had come to call it home. It had a very pre-WW2 noir feel and that was just the garage.

 

“This is just the garage. Trust me, the rest of it is pretty nice.” Sam encouraged. “Right now it's just us but a few weeks ago there were almost 20 of us here at any given time. Don't worry, neither angels or demons can't get in here without our express permission and the only demon we would allow isn't around anymore.”

 

Ollie heard a bit of sadness in the tall hunter's tone. Maybe not all demons were bad just like not all angels were good? Or was it just another in a long line of people they had lost over the years? “Was this demon a friend?”

 

“I don't think I'd go that far. Let's just say we went from arch enemies to not necessarily wanting to kill him all the time. He sacrificed himself to help us about a year ago.”

 

“I'm sorry for your loss.”

 

“I don't know if I would really call not having to deal with Crowley anymore a loss.” Dean snarked.

 

“Dean, come on. He died to help us. In the end he was almost decent. For a demon.” Sam defended, opening up the trunk of the Impala and grabbing her bags, slinging them onto his shoulder.

 

“He'd be insulted to be referred to as decent, so yeah. I'll go with that.”

 

“Once you are settled, Ollie, we can get you more stuff. Clothing and things. You can just let us know what you want.” There'd been a brief discussion of stopping at a Walmart enroute but none of them thought it would be a good idea. The sooner she was at their Bunker, the safer she would be apparently. The last thing they needed was to try and fight either demons or angels or both in the middle of a Walmart full of innocents in the way.

 

She still couldn't wrap her head around the whole idea that demons or angels knew who she was at all, let alone wanting her dead or worse. The fact that Sam and Dean had fought members of both groups and won just made her head spin and that was probably just the barest tip of the iceberg for what they had encountered over the years.

 

“I'm not going to have to stay here for the rest of my life or something, am I?” She paused, not wanting to sound ungrateful. Jack had been quick to grab the box with the urns in it, shaking his head to her when she went to take it herself. Apparently his dads were teaching him to be a gentleman or at least Sam and Castiel were. Dean seemed to have his moments. “I mean, I appreciate all you guys are doing for me but I mean...”

 

“We understand.” Castiel spoke up, putting his hand on her shoulder. “This is the safest place for you right now. It's warded against most everything imaginable and even some unimaginable. Please trust us. Trust Sam and Dean.”

 

She took a deep breath, better understanding now that the comforting feeling that she felt when Castiel put his hand on her like that was his angelic grace. It was kind of like topical prozac or something. “I do. I honestly do. I'm still thrown by all of this.”

 

“It takes time to get used to. Come on, let's show you around the joint.” Dean led the way.

 

******

“And this is the library. Not all the books are here, we just have too many, but the most important lore is here.” Dean stepped to the side to reveal a large room that almost looked like most libraries that she'd been in, just on a smaller scale as long as you ignored the strange symbols on the walls and floor. In the center of the room were long tables with chairs and banker's lamps, just like the University's law library.

 

Ollie looked around with wide eyes. “There's no such thing as too many books. Bite your tongue.” She stepped over to look at the titles, none of them looking like anything remotely similar to what she was used to. Some of the books looked ancient and the shelves were filled to bursting with them. They had more than this? “Wow.”

 

“Come on, let's show you the living area. The bedrooms are pretty basic and kind of plain but we can do stuff to brighten it up if you want. We're giving you one of the suites that has its own bathroom so you have some privacy.” Sam led the way down a wide hallway. “This is Dean's room and then this is mine and that's Jack's. Yours is right here.”

 

He opened the door and stepped aside so she could enter first. When he said the rooms were plain, he wasn't kidding. It was like the dullest of barracks though the bed looked a bit bigger than one would expect. There was a simple dresser with mirror, a small desk with a few shelves above it and a good sized TV. “I'm guessing that's something you boys added?”

 

“One of the first things, I insisted on it. Gotta have TV. We have Netflix and Hulu and pretty much anything you want.” Dean spoke up. “The rooms stay pretty warm thanks to us not having to worry about an electric bill but if you want different blankets or whatever, just tell us. Oh and the bathroom? Brand new shower head and we probably have the best pressure in all of Kansas.”

 

She must have looked surprised because then Sam spoke up. “Dean's a bit of a nester when he has the opportunity.”

 

To that Dean just nodded his head with a bit of a proud smile. From what they had told her so far about growing up in the hunter life, Dean hadn't had very much opportunity to explore that nesting side until they found the Bunker. Moments here and there but for the most part it had been town to town, case to case. Nearly the exact opposite of her life.

 

“Do you have wifi? I mean, can I use the internet for more than movies or is that too dangerous?” She felt like she was in some extreme kind of witness protection which in some ways she was. The only problem was, they didn't know just why she was in danger, just that she was and had no idea if or when she'd ever be safe again.

 

“Sam would go into convulsions if we didn't have internet. We'll need to do a few things to your computer so it isn't tracable. And we'll give you a burner phone so you can at least call us when we aren't here. I wouldn't recommend contacting friends or coworkers. We don't know just how much of an effort these jackasses are making to find you. It'll raise too many questions. ”

 

“But if I go completely silent, won't that raise questions too? I mean, the holidays are coming up. I'll have a ton of pity invitations to turn down.” At least now she had a reason. _Sorry Susan, I appreciate the offer but I'm hiding in a secret underground bunker from demons and angels who are trying to kill me or worse. Maybe next year._ At least it was a better reason than either playing off sick or claiming to have already taken someone one else up on their offer.

 

“We can figure that out.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still trying with this story even though I got bit, yet again, with another Supernatural fic idea that's had me preoccupied. Big surprise I know.
> 
> Enjoy the new chapter!

**Ollie POV**

Dean hadn't been kidding when he'd bragged about the water pressure in the Bunker. Ollie wasn't sure she'd ever been so clean in her life. The shower had done wonders for clearing her mind and helping stiff muscles though. She couldn't remember the last time she went on a roadtrip as long as the one from Chicago to Lebanon, Kansas. Then again, she hadn't even known there was a Lebanon in Kansas.

 

Getting dressed in more comfortable clothes, she sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. She could do this. She had to. Sam and Dean would be able to figure this whole thing out, it was what they did. It wasn't like she had any idea where to start. If it was one of Jimmy's books that'd started all of this, why didn't they just go into her house and take it? Why attack her? Did they assume she knew something that she shouldn't? And that spell thing that Castiel spoke of was really creeping her out. Who had done that?

 

It was making her question everything about her life on top of learning that all the myths and legends that her brother had taught in his classes were real. Sam and Dean had met actual ancient gods and goddesses. They'd gone up against Zeus and Osiris, Loki and who knew what else. All the things she took to be legends but they weren't. She had a feeling she had just begun to scratch at the surface of the truth she had had no idea about.

 

Somehow she'd managed to be lucky enough to be rescued by what seemed to be the most unassuming elite hunters there were. They'd met God, who apparently liked to be called Chuck and they had saved her of all people. Lucifer's son wasn't the antichrist like popular media had assumed. Forget Damien Thorne. Jack seemed like a really sweet kid, especially considering he was barely 2 years old but looked like he was in his 20s. Sam and Dean seemed like decent guys too. She didn't know how they managed to keep going after everything they'd been through and she knew she barely had an inkling of their lives at this point.

 

And Castiel was a friggin' angel. A real life angel who just happened to wear a trenchcoat. Go figure.

 

A knock at her door made her jump. It was hard to not be on edge with the forces of Heaven and Hell coming after you. They said this Bunker was safe but until a few days ago, she'd thought she was safe on campus. Things changed very quickly. “Ollie?”

 

“Come on in.” She called out.

 

The door opened a bit and Dean poked his head in. “Got a shower in huh? Was I right or was I right?”

 

She shook her head at his proud grin. “Yes, Dean you were right. It was very relaxing.”

 

“Wanna come out to the kitchen, have something to eat?”

 

Again, how the hell did this guy stay so slender eating the way he did? Hypoglycemia? She would think that would be something Castiel would have fixed or healed or whatever years ago. Was it pure luck?

 

“I dunno. I'm not very hungry.”

 

“We have chocolate caaaaake.” He singsonged, complete with wiggling his eyebrows.

 

Dammit.

 

“Ugh. Should have never let my love of chocolate slip. You suck.” She hopped off the bed and headed toward the door to where Dean was cackling with amusement.

 

“Doc, there are like a million awful things I could say right now, but since you are new to the Bunker, I'll restrain myself.”

 

“I bet that's a first.”

 

He snorted. “Probably.”

 

**Sam POV**

“What kind of tests?” Ollie asked from her seat at the Bunker kitchen counter, a empty plate with just chocolate crumbs in front of her. She'd taken a shower and changed into more comfortable clothes, including a well worn shirt that was probably a favorite that read University of Chicago History Department. Sam made a mental note to remember that she had a real love for chocolate, Dean proudly teasing that it was how he lured her out of her room. Maybe keeping the Bunker stocked with it would help her with dealing with her current situation, however long it lasted.

 

He knew neither Dean or Jack would have a problem with that. If she didn't eat it, they would. Jack thought he didn't know about the stash of Cookie Crunch but he did. The stuff was awful but Jack was really just a kid, he deserved to eat a kid's cereal. Though if Dean found the stash it would be gone in one sitting.

 

He could tell she was still nervous though she'd begun to relax with them and talk a bit more. He wasn't sure how long her stay with them would be but no matter what, her entire life was already changed. How many people had he and Dean exposed to the truth over the years? He'd lost count. Some of them had become hunters but how many of them hadn't been able to handle knowing that there were demons, monsters and the like?

 

Ollie seemed like she was trying to look at the whole situation as logically as she could, focusing on trying to understand that the world she'd always lived in was actually much more complicated and terrifying than she'd ever known. She was putting on a brave front but how long would that last?

 

“It's just a series of things that we can do to see what someone is. You can't always tell just by how someone looks or acts. A reaction to silver usually means some kind of monster but not always, holy water...”

 

“A demon. Right? Or a vampire?”

 

“Most of the Hollywood stuff about vampires isn't right or is just taken from other lore. You splash one with holy water, they are just going to be annoyed when they rip your throat out. There are different kinds of vampires too, so it depends. But you are right, holy water is used to check for demonic possession. Point one for the professor.” Dean praised, tipping his beer bottle to her.

 

Dean had been shocked and confused when he'd offered Ollie a beer with the oversized piece of cake he put on a plate for her and she'd politely turned him down. She explained that she didn't drink, never had and never planned to. She joked how Dean was far from the first person to be baffled by it and how many assumed it was some religious thing, which it wasn't. Sam had figured out it was because of her mother and she'd confirmed it with tap of her index finger to her her nose. “Plus, after the last 20 years of being surrounded by too many college kids who focus more on getting alcohol poisoning then actually trying to learn anything, it doesn't have much appeal.”

 

Dean had just shrugged, tossing her a can of soda from the fridge saying it just meant there was more beer for him.

 

Her brow furrowed as she took in yet another new truth, this time about vampires. People always seemed so disappointed to learn that vampires weren't what Hollywood made them out to be. Something told him she would end up having some detailed questions that most other people wouldn't. “But wouldn't Castiel have been able to tell I had a demon in me? I wouldn't have been able to get the tattoo with one, right? And you'd be able to tell, wouldn't you?” Her hand moved toward the tattoo but then stopped.

 

“Good points. You would be surprised how human some demons can act when they are possessing someone. In fact, most demons, at some point, were human. They take control of the body and if the soul is still in there, they can be pretty good about faking appearances. Which is why we still do the test. We can wait till tomorrow though.”

 

“No, do it now. I want to know.”

 

“Doc doesn't waste any time. I like that.” Dean said, moving to a cabinet and grabbing one of the many stashed bottles of holy water. “Do you want to drink it or be splashed in the face? That's what usually happens to me.” He grumbled.

 

Sam snickered, thinking about the number of times he'd been lucky enough to witness Dean getting splashed, usually by Bobby though the Trans had been pretty clever in their various ways of surprising the unexpecting with holy water.

 

“I'll drink it, thanks.” She took the bottle and took a big swig, swallowing it with her eyes closed before tenatively opening an eye. “Did I pass?”

 

Sam couldn't help the smile. Even though she was a PhD two times over, her innocence about the supernatural world was kind of sweet. He admired her desire to find out just what was going on. Traumatized as she already was, she was strong enough to be determined to understand. “Believe me, you'd know if you didn't. You passed. No demon.”

 

“What's next, silver? I don't suppose I swallow that too.”

 

Dean chuckled. “Nah. We can just have you hold something made of pure silver or cut you with an angel blade. That tends to make everything react, even the more rare monsters and whatever we've come across. The whole forged by Chuck thing.”

 

Ollie blinked for a moment and Sam knew she was still flabbergasted that the writer of “those Twilight-like books” was actually god himself and more than that, he'd met them and lived in the very same Bunker for a time. “Okay, let's check everything off the list then. Cut me.” She put her arm out flat on the counter.

 

Sam put his hand on her arm, dwarfing it. He wasn't sure if she was trying to impress them or feeling a bit self destructive thanks to the threat to her life and the fact that she was now in hiding. “Ollie, holding the silver will be enough. Trust me.”

 

She shook her head, determination shining in her eyes. “I have to know for sure. I need to. Cut me. I can handle it.”

 

He sighed, understanding that on some level she really did need this. He pulled back his hand, leaving her arm exposed. He didn't like it but he would probably do the same thing in a similar situation. Hell, he probably had and just couldn't remember. He'd nearly sacrificed himself so many times, it was starting to blur together. Throwing himself into the cage, taking on the Trials to close Hell, offering to let Dean kill him to keep him from killing anyone else because of the Mark plus who knows what else. Somehow though, a college professor who hadn't even known demons were real until they tried to kill her only a couple days ago being willing to have her arm cut just to prove she was human seemed like a dangerous step.

 

Dean shrugged and grabbed a handy angel blade stashed under the counter. Every room in the Bunker had hidden weapons and supplies. They wanted to make sure that if there was ever an attack, like the British Men of Letters or demons or whoever, that they wouldn't end up trapped with no way to fight. He moved quickly and slashed a shallow cut across her arm in one movement before she had the chance to change her mind or tense up.

 

Ollie gasped, her fist clenching but somehow, she managed to keep her arm where it was instead of yanking it back. She'd squeezed her eyes shut in reaction and opened them after letting out her breath slowly, showing just a hint of tears from the sudden pain. “Did I pass?”

 

“Yeah doc, you passed. As far as we can tell, you are human.” He grabbed a dishtowel and pressed it to her wound, doing much like she had with his split lip in the hotel, taking her hand to make her apply pressure. He held his hand over hers for a minute before looking her in the eye. “A very brave one at that. I'm impressed.”

 

She shrugged, wincing a little, finally pulling her arm back so she could better tend to the wound. “That's pretty much been my life's goal after getting my doctorate. Impress Dean Winchester. It was really difficult to figure out how to do, since I didn't even know you until a few days ago.”

 

Sam snorted. She was a snarky one, he liked that. “You accomplished it. Let's call Cas, get him or Jack back here to heal that.” The angel had taken Jack with him to do a bit of shopping for their new guest given the priority had been getting her to the safety of the Bunker as soon as possible.

 

“No.”

 

“What?” He was confused. “It's safe, Ollie. You've seen them heal us. Cas healed you from your black eye.”

 

“It's not that.” She pulled back the dishtowel to look at the wound that was still bleeding and covered it again. “Right now this cut tells me I'm human. I'm not a monster, as far as you can tell. I kind of need that with angels and demons on my ass.”

 

“Fair enough. We can still bandage it though?” Dean asked, seeming to understand where she was coming from.

 

“Yeah, that I'd appreciate.”

 

**Castiel POV**

Castiel knocked on the bedroom door of the Bunker's newest resident. “Ollie? It's Castiel.”

 

A moment later, the door opened to reveal the young professor dressed for bed in some clothing that had been left behind by a few of the women they'd brought back from Apocalypse world. “Hi. Something wrong?” She looked down to see the bags in his hands. “Angels go on shopping sprees?”

 

“I knew there were a few things that a woman would need living in the Bunker. Your cycle is due to start so I got you a selection of sanitary options, a heating pad, salty snacks and more chocolate. I've learned in my time on earth that chocolate tends to be a necessity for most women due to the hormone change. Jack picked out the chocolates that have nougat, it's his favorite.”

 

Her eyes widened in surprised confusion. “You know when my...how do you know that?”

 

“When I healed your eye the other night, I also healed anything else that needed healing and sensed your impending hormonal change. Have you noticed your lower back feeling better?” Now thanks to him she wouldn't develop the arthritis she may have years down the road. He'd been impressed with her general health but he knew part of that probably had something to do with the protective spell that had been placed on her.

 

She blinked and he could see the realization show in her eyes. “Oh wow. With everything that's been going on I didn't even think about it. Thank you. For that and for all this. It's really nice of you.”

 

“I know the first night in a new place can be difficult and you have undergone some major changes in the last few days. You don't need any additional discomfort or awkwardness. Is everything in your room alright?”

 

She stepped back to let him in. He noticed she'd turned down the bed and had made use of Netflix. “Yeah, it's okay. Thanks.” She took the bags and placed them by the desk, no doubt to go through later.

 

“Do you feel like you will have difficulty sleeping?”

 

A shrug. “A little. I can't remember the last time I slept somewhere other than Chicago. It's very quiet here too. I'm used to a little noise. Cars going by, things like that.”

 

It was then that he noticed the bandage on her arm. The boys had told him about how bravely she had insisted on doing the tests they had for figuring out if someone wasn't quite human. The tests were far from foolproof but they were a good place to start. Dean apparently had been very impressed by her willingness to be cut with an angel blade rather than just touch pure silver. Sam seemed troubled by it. “You are injured. Do you want me to heal you?”

 

She took a step back, her hand going over the bandage. “No, no, thank you. I told the boys, I need this right now. It's not that bad honestly. Dean bandaged it up for me.”

 

Castiel was confused before he made the realization. “It serves as a reminder you are human.”

 

She nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I didn't think I wasn't before but this confirms it a little more. After the last few days, I'm not really sure of much anymore. I just can't think of anything in my life that would say different or give me a reason to why I'm being hunted.” She moved to sit on the bed. “That spell thing you sensed is really messing with my brain. I don't feel anything in me. I feel normal.”

 

“You wouldn't. Magic is rarely something you can sense without being a practitioner. I wouldn't be concerned by it. There are many different forms of magic, not all of it bad. This bunker is permeated in magical wards and protection spells but you can't feel it. The spell I felt was very powerful but not malignant, not dangerous or dark. It was pure protection.” He searched his mind for an analogy that she would understand. “Like a guard dog.” Dogs were a comfort to many humans.

 

That made her smile a little. “I have a magical guard dog in me. Sounds weird, but I kind of like that. Thank you, Castiel.”

 

He felt pride for making her smile, even just a little. “Of course. Would you like me to sit with you for a while? To watch over your dreams since you are sleeping in a new place?”

 

She shrugged. “It's probably better if I try on my own. I'm pretty tired, the last couple days have been pretty stressful though they could have been worse I'm sure. I appreciate the offer though. I've had nightmares before, you learn to deal.”

 

He thought about what he knew about her that would cause her to have nightmares. Surely college students weren't that awful to deal with. He knew from both Sam and Dean that their nightmares usually had to do with each other, involving injury, betrayal or death. It seemed to be a common theme for most human nightmares. “When your brother was ill?”

 

Her eyes saddened as they seemed to do with any mention of her lost father or brother. “Yeah. Toward the end and then after. It was nothing compared to what he went through. He really suffered.”

 

He reached out and touched her shoulder, actively using his grace to comfort her. Not all humans were receptive to angel grace but Ollie seemed to be very open to it and took great comfort from it. “But you were at his side, I'm sure that helped him a great deal. I assure you, he doesn't suffer now.”

 

She sighed, her small hand going to touch his. “That angel grace is something else.”

 

“It is, though humans are often able to comfort each other the same way without grace. Some are better at it then others.”

 

“Either way, thank you. Oh before I forget, where is Jack? He went with you shopping?”

 

Castiel nodded. “Yes, he did. I try to pass on the things I've learned in the last few years about human life and behavior. He's very intelligent and catches on very quickly. I believe he was putting away the few items he bought for himself. Did you want to see him?”

 

She shook her head. “No, it's okay. I was just curious since he's only a toddler chronologically. That will take time to get used to. I guess you and the boys each teach Jack different things?”

 

“Yes, I tend to focus on helping him with his powers and dealing with interacting with humans. Being a nephilim makes him very powerful and he's incredibly young despite his outward appearance.” He thought about the psychic's insistance that Ollie would be influencial on Jack. “As a professor, I bet there is much you could teach him as well if you wanted.” It would also serve as a distraction from her current troubles as a target for forces from both Heaven and Hell.

 

She shrugged. “I'm not sure if 19th century history would be very helpful but maybe I can help in somehow. It's worth a shot anyway.”

 

Castiel noticed her fighting back a yawn, her fatigue was evident. She was under a great deal of stress and stress was exhausting. He knew that from personal experience in the brief time he was human as well as when he'd been suffering from trying to get by on stolen grace. “I should let you get some sleep. Please call for me if you have bad dreams, I can help. I do not sleep, it isn't a bother. Alright?”

 

Ollie nodded, giving him a soft smile. “Thanks Castiel. It's nice to have one angel who is on my side and looking over me.”

 

“Of course. Anything I can do, I will to help keep you safe. Good night.”

 

“G'night Castiel Thanks again for all the stuff.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still plugging away though the other story (yes I started a 3rd one) has been distracting me. Anyone interested in a story about someone from our reality getting pulled (via soul) into the Supernatural reality? Or is that just too weird?
> 
> Anywho....new chapter! Feedback gives demons hives, so go nuts!

**Sam POV**

Sam looked up from his research to find Ollie standing in the doorway of the war room, dressed in a tank top with a flannel and jeans that the Charlie from the other reality had left behind. After only a week, she was already starting to look more the part of a hunter rather than a professor with PhDs. He could just see part of her new anti-possession tattoo. He was still impressed with how she was taking things, especially how fast they had been coming right after they saved her. They still had no idea why both angels and demons were after her but the important thing was that there had been no attacks or threats since they got back to the Bunker.

 

While the bag of clothes she'd had in her office that night was helpful, he could sympathize with her not wanting to wear the same things over and over, hence her raiding of what had been left behind. He made a mental note to see if she would want to order some clothes on Amazon or something since they hadn't wanted to risk trying to go into her house at the moment. They would go back when it was potentially safer. They had been lucky enough to have Jack with them when they'd gone there before and those angels had been laying in wait. They'd had Ollie call her neighbor using a burner phone and ask her to lock the place up. She'd been convincing, telling the woman that an old friend from high school had had a sudden bad accident and needed help for a while. She'd even gone so far as to plant a seed of misdirection and say the friend lived in Florida.

 

Since then, she'd just been trying to settle in to living in the Bunker. Jack did his best to try and make her as comfortable as he could, always asking what she would like or if she was hungry. He even took to trying to teach her some of the things he had learned. Somehow the young nephilim had a skill with making her smile with his efforts. Sam wondered if the psychic was right and Ollie would grow to be a mother figure for the boy. Needless to say though, it had to be difficult for her with her entire life turned upside down like it had been.

 

“Hey Ollie. Couldn't sleep?”

 

She shook her head. “No. My room is very nice and comfortable but I can't shut my brain off tonight. I'm a bit Netflixed out too. If I was home, I would just take a walk around campus or the city but I can't exactly do that here. Do you mind if I sit with you? I always feel better surrounded by books.”

 

He smiled and waved to the seat across from him. “Me too. Dean used to tease me about it but I've always liked researching and learning.”

 

She took a seat and looked at some of the books he had piled around him. “These are much different than the books I used to have. Well, that I still have technically, back in Chicago. Though I bet Jimmy had a few of these or something like them. He just didn't know what they were, that they were fact, not fiction. I dunno.”

 

He hadn't said anything but both he and Dean had noticed, in the brief few minutes they had gotten to look around her house before the angels attacked, that her brother had had quite a few real lore books. He hoped to snatch them up when they got a chance to go back. How her brother had gotten his hands on them, he was very curious about. But then the angels attacked and the concern turned to keeping Ollie safe from both Heaven and Hell. The last thing they needed to do was burden her with more questions at the moment.

 

She sighed and then shook her head, almost to herself. He knew that leaving her whole life behind less than a week before was still bothering her. Nevermind what Cas had mentioned about some kind of protective magic pushing back at him initially before allowing him to carve the Enochian on her ribs to hide her from angels. He still didn't like how her eyes had briefly lit up either. There was a very strong chance there was something very special about their new resident professor and she had absolutely no clue at all. “Dean mentioned that you'd gone to Stanford? You were going to go to law school there?”

 

He sat back and nodded. “It feels like someone else's life to be honest, but yeah. I went to Stanford and I was all set to interview for a full ride to law school there when things just took a very different direction.”

 

“When that demon that killed your mom came back and killed your girlfriend.” Ollie said softly. She'd been learning quite a bit about their lives in the last week. “I'm sorry. That must have been horrible.”

 

“Yeah, it was. She deserved better. But that's when I started back in the hunter life and there's been a few breaks here and there but I've pretty much embraced it. I've helped stop a few apocalypses, saved a lot of lives, it's been pretty decent, all in all. Not many hunters last as long as we have or accomplished as much as we have.”

 

“I'm baffled by just the fraction I've learned in the last few days, how do you deal with years of this stuff, day after day?”

 

“It takes time, trust me. You are handling it better than I've seen a lot of people.” He chuckled. “You impressed Dean on your second day with us, trust me, that's not easy to do and I'm his brother.”

 

She nodded with a shy little smile in thanks. “Can I do something to help you? I'm a historian, research is kind of my kung fu. Fresh eyes might see something that experienced eyes wouldn't. Besides, it will help me if I can actually learn about this world that I had no idea about.”

 

She really was handling it better than most people. At least she wasn't hiding in her room or trying to run away. He wouldn't have blamed her for either. “Yeah, that'd be great. Here's a question though, how's your Latin?”

 

She grinned. “Did I mention I have a Bachelor's in Latin? My dad insisted both Jimmy and I have an appreciation for the classics.”

 

Sam nodded impressed. “Not bad. Is there anything you don't have a degree in? How did you get all these degrees so young?”

 

“I don't do math, that's completely out of my wheelhouse. As for all the degrees? I get bored. My dad bragged about his genius kids but really, we just were more comfortable around books and learning than people.”

 

“I get that. Dean does better around demons and monsters half the time. How long has it been since your brother passed?”

 

“Four years and five months.” Her eyes grew sad and she took a deep breath. “He would have loved all of this. Not the whole little sister being attacked by demons and angels thing but that the lore was real, that angels were real. He would have completely fanboyed over it.” She shifted in her chair. “I'm just terrified is all. I mean, all of you have been so great, it's just so much. A complete 180 from everything I thought I knew and understood about the world. I kinda feel like Alice or Dorothy.”

 

Sam mentally smirked, noting that he'd have to tell her the real story of Frank Baum, who'd been part of the Men of Letters and the chaos that'd ensued thanks to the actual Wicked Witch. “Trust me, there are days when my head swims with everything we've been through and experienced. It really messes with your head.”

 

“I can't even imagine. Dean said you've all died multiple times? You've been to Hell? Like actual Hell?”

 

Sam nodded. It seemed like so long ago. “Yeah. And Heaven and Purgatory. I honestly don't even think about it much anymore. Sometimes that's the easier thing to do than to really focus on it.”

 

“I'll be honest, the historian in me just wants to start researching and documenting. I mean, so many cultures have similar myths and legends, does that apply to monsters and spirits? Hunters have to keep logs or something, so they can remember what kills what and all that, right? Umm, what signs to look for to figure out what something might be?”

 

“Yeah, there are the lore books like these and then Hunter's journals. Dean's not much for it and I try to keep one but sometimes at the end of a case, the last thing you want to do is write about it. Our father kept a really extensive one. You could read it if you want. I can give you a few books that are a good place to start and we can go from there.”

 

She nodded. “Okay. Lemme go back to my room and get a notebook or two and some pens. Maybe post-its too.” She paused. “I'm a little OCD, I color code, the whole thing. The staff at the Office Max by my house absolutely love me.”

 

Sam couldn't help but chuckle. That was actually cute. “Good. I'll get you set up.”

 

**Dean POV**

Dean was very confused. He'd gone out to get more beer and came back to find Sam where he'd left him, researching. They had been looking for anything that might tell them what would make the angels and demons potentially work together but also more about the strange protection spell that had made the professor's eyes flare a bluish silver. So far, they'd found nothing.

 

He hadn't expected an epiphany to be discovered while he was out but this was even more unexpected. Across from Sam was their guest and it looked like she was researching too? “I leave for what, an hour and you've already corrupted her, Sam? Really?”

 

Ollie looked up and gave him a smile that he was sure he hadn't seen from the professor since they'd saved her and brought her back to the Bunker. She'd smiled, sure. Mostly for Jack who was practically doing somersaults in his efforts to try and make her at ease with the change in her life. She was slowly getting more comfortable with them and the complete left turn her life had taken but this was a real smile. It lit up her whole face and showed how pretty she really was. He had a feeling Sammy had noticed that too from the look on his face. “Hi Dean. There was no corrupting. Research is kind of my thing, it's just a different subject.”

 

“Either way, Yawn City. Better you than me I guess.” He held up the case of soda he'd picked up in addition to the beer. “You said you liked cream soda, right?”

 

“Yes, I did. Thank you! That's really sweet of you.”

 

“Well, I figure, you're stuck in the Bunker, the least we could do is ply you with sugar and high fructose whatever.” He stepped over to see that one of the books she had was his dad's journal. He blinked in disbelief at the notebook she'd been writing in. Her handwriting was very neat and she definitely had a system from the different colors of pen as well as different post-it notes he saw. “Color coded notes? Oh my Chuck, Sam, we found your soul mate.”

 

“Shaddap. Asshole.” Sam grumbled but with a bit of a twist to his lips. He could complain all he wanted but Dean knew he was probably thrilled to meet someone who was as interested in lore as he was and eager to learn. Especially someone he could teach. Ironic that it would be a PhD that he would be teaching.

 

“Whatever. What do you think so far there, doc?”

 

“Well, at least if I'm going to be stuck down here until you boys figure everything out, I'll have plenty to keep me occupied. I was saying to Sam that I could try working on a history of the Winchesters. You know, you guys and your parents? Maybe further back given this whole thing is the family business. Even try to make connections to other hunters and all that. Would that be okay?”

 

Dean shrugged. “It's up to you. You want to do something like that?”

 

“You guys have saved the world and millions of people, including me, how many times? It should be documented. Or at least attempted. I'm just intrigued to find out how much of my own field I'm wrong about because I didn't know about all this stuff. I'm getting a ton of ideas for projects. Besides maybe it will help us figure out just why that psychic believed you guys were the only ones who could protect me.”

 

He sighed and headed for the kitchen. “Yep. Sam's soulmate for sure.” He chuckled as he felt a wadded up ball of paper bean him right in the back of his head. “Just lemme know when the date is! I'll have to rent a tux and that's a pain in the ass if you wait too long!”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still plugging away at this as well as my 3rd SPN fic which I doubt I'll end up publishing.
> 
> Just a reminder that this story is only canon up to just about the end of season 13. Angels have their wings and there are lots of them. No Lucifer either.
> 
> Feedback is lovely (hint hint)

**Ollie POV**

Life began to take on something of a routine for Ollie, or at least she tried to make a routine for herself. It had been over 2 weeks since she'd arrived at the Bunker and they were no further in finding out just why she was being hunted. In a call with a burner phone to her department head, she'd found out that some very weird government types had been by asking for her only to be followed up by her office being broken into. Marty was an old school hippie had hadn't told “the Man” anything about her but he had been curious as to why someone would break into her office and leave traces of sulfur. He'd theorized maybe it was a ill-planned prank from the Chemistry department. She's told the man that she was helping out a friend from high school who'd had an accident and she wasn't sure if she would make it back for Spring semester. Marty seemed to know this was bullshit but he didn't say anything except not to worry about it, he had her back.

 

Now thanks to her still basic education in the paranormal, she knew that the sulfur traces in her office meant that demons had been the ones to break in and the boys were pretty sure that the weird government types had probably been angels. They weren't very good, for the most part, in their attempts to act like humans without being very obvious. Castiel had seemed rather annoyed as Dean and Sam told her about how awkward he had been when he'd first come into their lives after pulling Dean out of Hell.

 

Christmas had been one of the more unique holiday experiences she'd ever had. She had a feeling much of the celebration was done for her benefit as well as Jack's. It had been fun watching Sam and Dean bicker and argue as they wrestled an obscenely large tree into the open space by the spiral stairs, Castiel's attempt to advise getting him threatened with being the tree topper. Jack had shown off some of his abilities, namely floating ornaments up to Dean on the ladder from his seated place on the floor where he was stringing up popcorn and cranberries.

 

Jack had been curious about what her family traditions had been since Sam and Dean hadn't really had any thanks to life on the road. She'd mentioned the basic things about decorating and exchanging presents. The boy had seemed very interested in it all since the year before, he had spent the holidays in that Apocalypse World place, an entirely different reality, just trying to keep himself and Mary Winchester alive. She was pretty sure between her not having a reason to celebrate for years and Jack fighting for his survival the year before, the Winchesters had more than enough inspiration to try and make this year something memorable, even for them.

 

She knew she was just a guest, but she appreciated the efforts of the four in making her feel like part of the family. From decorating the tree to watching Christmas movies, it was nice to actually kind of celebrate the holiday even if she was on a kind of witness protection. They had even included her with the Christmas presents. Most of it had been useful items, a massive amount of notebooks and other stationary items from Sam; her own angel blade from Castiel. Dean had admitted he'd wanted to get her a gun, but Sam had talked him out of it since she had never even handled one before. Instead he'd gotten her a decent selection from Bath and Body Works, saying he figured “chicks dig that stuff”. Jack, being the sweet boy he was, had gotten her an obscene amount of chocolate and candies.

 

Since she couldn't see the sun in her current home, she had to go by her watch or computer to tell what time of day it was. The boys seemed to not really live on any kind of schedule, though they tended to be night owls. She tried to keep the same kind of schedule she had before all of this, so she had her alarm set for 8am. She wasn't sleeping anywhere near as much as she used to but she guessed it wasn't too abnormal for someone in her situation. There'd only been a couple times she'd woken up to find Castiel sitting in the chair at her desk, either reading or watching something on a tablet with the sound off. Those were the mornings she would feel more rested, no doubt thanks to the angels influence. They didn't talk about it but she guessed that he would sense her beginning to have a bad dream and would stop it or something.

 

Either way, she was thankful.

 

One of the best parts of her day continued to be her morning shower thanks to the incredible pressure the Bunker had thanks to the hydropower plant it was built underneath. Once she was washed and dressed, she'd head out to the kitchen where invariably either Sam or Jack would be making some kind of breakfast though it was a special treat when Dean cooked. Part of her wasn't surprised that the gruffer of the brothers was actually quite decent cook. The man lived to eat but she still couldn't figure out where it all went. Sam was more health conscious but not so much that he didn't enjoy the better things in life, like bacon.

 

*******

“Morning doc. How'd ya sleep?”

 

Dean was cooking! Yes! “Okay, I think. What's on the menu this morning, Chef?”

 

“French Toast ala Dean.” He grinned. “Grab a seat, I've almost got a batch ready.”

 

She moved to the table where Sam was sitting with his laptop and a cup of coffee. “Morning Sam.”

 

“Hey Ollie. How are you?”

 

“I'm good. What's going on in the world?”

 

“Same crap different day. We might have a case though. Wanna take a crack at what you think it could be?” He turned the screen toward her as she took her seat, the article title about a man found mauled in an office building. Sam had been really great about helping her learn about what he'd spent nearly his whole life doing. Incredibly patient, she found his teaching style was much like hers where he encouraged her to ask questions and make her own conclusions.

 

“Ok, mauled could be just about anything.” She read further, that authorities were puzzled by the look of an animal attack downtown, though it could potentially be someone on heavy duty drugs. Instead of blaming it on PCP, now they blamed it on bath salts. “They wouldn't say if any body parts or organs were missing but it's not a full moon, so not a werewolf. Right?” One of the things Sam had taught her in her new studies of the supernatural was that the moon cycle was something very important to be aware of.

 

“Thatta girl!” Dean crowed, bringing over a plate of very fluffy looking french toast and placing it in front of her, giving her a supportive squeeze of the shoulder. “Keep going. What else?”

 

She looked over the article again. “It could be a witch, you'd have to look for hex bags. Umm, maybe a skinwalker or something else that gets animalistic like that but can also pass for human? It's hard without more details.”

 

“You did good, Ollie.” Sam praised as Dean came back with two more plates, putting away the laptop. “The most important thing about hunting is trying to get as much information as you can before you act. Something might seem like a witch but actually be something else.”

 

“You'd have to find out more about the victim. It might be a poltergeist or a ghost too. Would information about the building help with that?”

 

Dean grinned, already swallowing his first bite of breakfast. “She's a natural!”

 

“I'm a historian, it's just another kind of detective work really. Are you going to go out there?”

 

“We were planning on it. Might go a lot faster with you backing us up here.”

 

“Me? What could I do from here?”

 

“Save us a ton of time by eliminating what it couldn't be, getting us more information about the people we are going to be talking to or who might be the next victim, that kind of thing. You've seen Sam do it a few times helping out other hunters, you could do it easy.” Dean encouraged.

 

“I can try my best.” She took a bite of French toast lathered in butter and swallowed before bringing up what immediately came to her mind. “What if I mess up though? I mean, I could send you to save someone and be wrong and someone dies.”

 

“It's not a perfect science, Ollie. Somethings are unpredictable. We've made our fair share of mistakes, made assumptions about people only to find out we were very wrong. Sometimes just our being there changes how things go.” Sam admitted pouring a tiny bit of maple syrup onto his plate compared to his brother who practically drowned his toast. “You make the best decisions you can with what you know and go from there.”

 

**Sam POV**

“Dude, she's going to be fine. She's probably in the safest place she can be on the planet. Stop worrying.” Dean said finally as they got closer to where the case was in Boise, Idaho.

 

“She's got Heaven and Hell gunning for her Dean and now she's all alone. You really think angels that are millions of years old and the forces of hell can't figure out a way to get in there? Asmodeus managed it.”

 

“She knows what to do if something goes wrong. She calls us and then prays to Castiel if he's not there. Either he or I teleport her out and go to Sheriff Jody's in South Dakota. You meet us there.” Jack spoke up from the backseat. “Ollie is very smart, she would find a way to stay safe until we could get to her.”

 

“That's right Jack. Good job.” Dean praised the nephilim. “Listen, I get why you are concerned. Ollie's a sweet girl and she's got no one except for us. But even she said that we can't just sit around in the Bunker to protect her when other people need our help. We need this.”

 

Sam sighed. It wasn't entirely wrong. Since they'd rescued Ollie and brought her to the Bunker, they'd been farming out most cases unless it was a day trip just so Ollie was protected. None of them counted on her case going pretty much cold except for obvious word of demon and angel activity in around the University and then in the areas she'd told her neighbor and department head that her “sick friend” lived. She was still in danger but they were no closer to finding out why or exactly who was involved.

 

“I know. I just want to keep her safe.”

 

“So do we Sammy. Cas will check in on her once he figures out what's going on with the angel side of the situation. We gotta know if it's just a small group or if the whole Host is coming after her. Can't imagine all angels would be willing to work with demons just to get one human.”

 

“They might not all know about the demon involvement. Castiel has said many of them still haven't taken to having free will and act as they are ordered. The demons involved might not all know about the angels either.” Jack spoke up.

 

“Good points, Jack.” Dean praised. “No matter what, we'll keep Ollie safe. In the meantime, we hunt. If anything to keep up appearances. Don't want either Heaven or Hell noticing us not hunting.”

 

“Okay, okay, you win.” Sam raised his hands in defeat. He didn't like it but they were both right. He hoped they could close this case quickly and get back to the Bunker just the same.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Jack POV**

Jack had waited for the brothers to fall asleep before he tried video calling Ollie. He understood that she was used to being alone but now it was different. She was on what Dean called witness protection even though she didn't actually witness anything or know that she did. She hadn't left the bunker in nearly a month. He understood the term cabin fever still applied even if there was no cabin or actual fever.

 

It took a moment before the call was answered and he saw Ollie's face. It looked like she was in the Bunker kitchen. “Hello Ollie!” He said with a big smile and a wave.

 

“Hey Jack. How are you sweetheart? You guys get to Boise okay?”

 

He nodded. “Yeah. It was a long trip but I like riding in the car and seeing all that I can.”

 

“There's a lot to see when you travel that way, that's for sure.”

 

“How are you doing? Sam was worried about you on the way here. He didn't like leaving you alone. I reminded him of our plan.”

 

She shrugged. “I'm alright. The Bunker is very quiet without you boys, quieter than I thought it could be. I've just been trying to focus on getting some information to help you with the case and everything. I should have something by morning so you'll have a direction to start in.”

 

“You aren't going to sleep?” He asked concerned. It was important for humans to get the proper amount of rest. He didn't need to sleep much at all but found it was pleasant and refreshing when the opportunity presented itself. Sam and Castiel would both remind him that as a nephilim he was half human, sleep was part of being human. “You need to sleep, Ollie.”

 

“I will Jack. I just want to make sure that I'm able to help you out as much as I can from here. Actually contribute a bit, you know?”

 

“You contribute a lot, Ollie. I didn't know anything about college professors or Chicago before we met. I like having you in the Bunker.”

 

Her face on the screen broke into a smile. “Thank you sweetheart, that's very kind of you. Why don't you try and get some rest, even if you don't need it? You want to be able to help Sam and Dean however you can. Listen to them and be safe, okay?”

 

“I will. I'll talk to you in the morning.”

 

**Ollie POV**

“Hey doc, how are things back there?” Dean leaned in so now Ollie was looking at all three hunters, Sam having started the call to check in on her and Jack joining him. She'd given in and took a nap around 2am only to be woken up at 6am when her phone dinged with a notification that the email she'd been waiting on had arrived finally.

 

“Very quiet, Dean. I have some information for the case, I'm just not sure how much help it will be. This is really Sam's expertise, not mine.”

 

“Give yourself a chance, doc. Sammy had to learn how to do it too. Whatcha got?”

 

“Well it looks like the victims do have something in common. Each of them lost a family member in a strange way. Victor Dobbs' daughter was mauled by what is reported to be a bear but inside her cabin, the second victim's brother was found drained of blood behind the bar he owned and the third victim was found dead in his home, murdered with no sign as to how the killer got in or out.”

 

“Good work, Ollie. Where's that information leading you?” Sam encouraged.

 

“Well I thought each of those sounded like something you boys would investigate and I was right, they weren't just random events. But each one seems to have one FBI agent involved and I don't think he's FBI. I think he's a hunter like you.”

 

“What makes you think that?”

 

“The name. Special Agent Alan Pangborn.”

 

Dean's eyebrows furrowed. “I've heard that name before. That sounds so familiar!”

 

“I'll give you a hint. He was Sheriff of a town in Maine called Castle Rock.”

 

The elder hunter's eyes grew wide. “That's it! The sheriff from Needful Things! The Stephen King book! Nice catch, Ollie! And that tells me exactly who we need to track down to get started.”

 

“Who?”

 

“A hunter friend of our dad's. Huge Stephen King nut, Isaac Younger from Missouri.”

 

Now it was Ollie who felt her eyes widen. “Wait wait, is he a descendant from the Youngers as in the James Younger gang?”

 

Dean grinned and tapped his nose. “You go to the head of the class. Cole Younger was his great grandpa or something.”

 

“I'm confused.” Jack spoke up. “Who was Cole Younger?”

 

“I'll explain it to you later, honey. It's a history thing. I think you'll like it, it's a good story. You guys need to find Isaac Younger then because all the victims are related to cases he was involved in. Something is either trying to draw him out maybe.”

 

“Sounds like something is looking for vengeance. They are going after people related to cases he worked on.” Sam theorized with an approving nod. “Great work Ollie, really good job. We're going to head in, see what we can see. We'll keep you updated.”

 

“Ok. You boys be safe.”

 

“Always doc. Thanks for the info. Good job.” Dean praised, giving her a smile and a salute.

 

************

“Hello Ollie.”

 

Ollie looked up from the spot that she'd kind of taken as her own in the library to see Castiel coming down the steps with his arms filled with bags. “Hi Castiel.” She got up and made her way over to help the angel. “Here let me help you. Another angelic shopping spree?”

 

She was almost giddy to see the angel, having been on her own in the Bunker for 2 days now. Jack had offered to stay behind but she knew he enjoyed going along on the cases, especially if he was able to help someone. She hadn't really liked the idea of being alone but she couldn't deny Jack the chance to do something he was so proud of. She knew Sam had been reluctant too but the last thing she wanted to do was keep him from having Dean's back out there just to sit and babysit her.

 

Thanks to technology, the boys had checked in often, keeping her up to date on the case and of course making sure she was alright. So far, the case was going well and the information she'd discovered had helped them quite a bit. Now it was just a matter of staking out what seemed to be the preferred hunting ground of what had ended up being a skinwalker with a grudge and taking it out.

 

“I thought you might want some different clothing. Sam mentioned that you were probably growing tired of constantly washing what you had.”

 

She couldn't help but smile at how much the angel was trying. She wondered if that was where Jack had gotten it from. “That's really nice of you, thank you.” She hadn't said anything because she didn't want to sound ungrateful but she really was tired of doing laundry. She was thankful that the female hunters who'd come from what apparently was a different reality had left quite a bit behind and Dean & Sam's mom had too but she really wanted some stuff of her own. Now here was Castiel, an angel literally answering her prayers.

 

They brought the bags over to the table next to where her research was and Castiel tilted his head at the sight of all the books and papers. “Are you doing research?”

 

“Yeah. I need something to keep my mind busy with the boys out finishing up a case and there's so much I need to learn. You know, about how things really are? And I got permission from the boys to do research about their family.” She stepped over and picked up one notebook that she had sectioned out. “It includes you and Jack, I hope you don't mind. Jack's kinda easy with the whole 2 years old thing.” His section was titled “Jack Klein-Winchester, Nephilim”

 

“Castiel Winchester, Angel.” Castiel read when she turned to the section she had for him. “But I don't have a last name. I am not a biological relation to the boys.”

 

“That doesn't mean you aren't family, Castiel. I may have only been around here a couple weeks but I can tell that the boys think of you like a brother. A much much much older brother, but a brother none the less. And all three of you are fathers to Jack. That's family.” She paused. “Do I want to know just how old you really are?”

 

“Several billion years old. Since the creation.”

 

Ollie blinked. “I'm gonna need more notebooks.”

 

***********

Ollie made her way up the short staircase that led into the garage just as Dean was parking the Impala in it's usual spot. It had been four days since the guys had left on the case and now it was over, the skinwalker's plans to kill whoever he had to in order to draw out hunter who had killed his mate ended along with his life. They'd even managed to save Isaac Younger from himself, the elder man so distraught over the people who'd been killed because of him, he'd almost gotten himself killed.

 

“Hey doc! Miss us?” Dean greeted as she headed over to the Impala.

 

“I missed Sam and Jack. You, meh.” She held up her hand and tipped it back and forth. She liked joking around with Dean, he had a great sense of humor.

 

“Yeah yeah, you can deny the crush you have on me all you want but I can see the truth.” He teased right back, giving her a wink.

 

“Hi Ollie. It's good to see you. How are you?” Jack greeted, heading for the trunk.

 

“Hey Jack. It's good to see you too, sweetheart. I'm doing alright.” She looked to where Sam was walking around the back of the car. “Hey Sam.”

 

He flashed her a grin, his dimple showing and she couldn't help but feel relieved to see him in one piece. The takedown of the skinwalker hadn't been easy or flawless. Thankfully the boys had had Jack right there to help heal them from their injuries. Sam had said it had been nothing but she saw the look on Dean's face that said it had been a bit more than that. “Hey Ollie. You didn't have any crazy parties while we were gone, did you?”

 

“It wasn't that crazy. I mean until the SWAT team showed up.” She joked and then noticed the look of confusion on Jack's face. “It's a joke, Jack. It's been very quiet here. I'm glad you guys are back. I might just have something special in the oven for the birthday boy.” She gave Dean a grin. “Happy birthday old man.”

 

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Old man? Come on. I'm like what, 2 years older than you? The kid, he can call me old.” He immediately looked to Jack and pointed his finger. “Not that he's going to start.” He turned back to her. “But not you.”

 

She shook her head. “Nope. This is a Baylor tradition. On birthdays you are always the oldest person ever. Besides, with all the time you spent elsewhere, who knows how old you truly are? I mean, you aren't as old as Castiel but you are definitely much older than me. Gramps.”

 

Dean growled and rolled his eyes. “What's the something special to make this abuse worth it?”

 

Sam was snickering behind his hand. He'd been the one to tell her that Dean's birthday was coming up and she'd immediately jumped on it as something to keep her busy outside of her new research projects. She wanted to do something to thank these guys for trusting her with their Bunker as well as protecting her. She'd just been thankful that Castiel had been around to get the few things she'd needed that the Bunker hadn't been stocked with.

 

“Get all your crap put away and head to the kitchen to find out.”

 

**Dean POV**

Old man. Old man! Come on! He wasn't even 40.

 

Next year. Christ.

 

Dean sighed dumping his stuff on his bed. Another case done and here it was his friggin' birthday. It was kinda sweet of Ollie to want to do something nice for him. He assumed Sam probably told her or Cas had. Just the same, she'd done such a good job helping them with the case, especially a first timer. He wasn't sure if it was innate talent or Sam was that good of a teacher.

 

He made his way to the kitchen where he stopped short and sniffed the air. He knew that smell very well and turned his head to see that Sam and Jack had beaten him there but Cas had shown up too. “Is that what I think it is?”

 

Ollie turned from the oven and waved to where a freshly made pie was cooling on the counter. “Yep. Normally it'd be a birthday cake but I know you are all about pie. Be gentle with me, there's been a learning curve. I think I got the hang of it though! You like apple, right?”

 

“Apple is great.” He stepped over and gave her a one armed squeeze and a peck to the temple. She'd made him pie, he was definitely going to let her slide on the old jokes. This time. “Thanks doc. You didn't have to.”

 

“I wanted to. It's the least I can do for you guys protecting me and everything. Lemme get the ice cream and we'll dig in.”

 

“I knew we did good when we rescued you.” Dean said as he grabbed a knife and eyed the dessert with hungry eyes. “Pie on my birthday, life is sweet!!”

 

She laughed, pulling out a half gallon of vanilla ice cream while Sam grabbed plates and silverware. “Simple pleasures I guess.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I've been so bad about updating. I did post my 3rd story though....does that count for something? 
> 
> Here's a chapter just the same, I hope you like it!

**Sam POV**

“There you guys are! What's going on? Did you find Bianca? Was she able to tell you more about her vision?” Ollie greeted them hopefully as they walked into the Bunker library together after over a week on the road.

 

Sam sighed. This wasn't going to go well. He and Dean had gone back and forth the whole way back from Oklahoma about how to tell Ollie about what they'd discovered. They'd gone in search of the psychic who'd first alerted them to the danger she was in, both had a bad feeling when they weren't able to get through to the woman since that fateful call that led them to Ollie. The search had taken them to four different states, Bianca having moved several times in the last seven weeks. Each location had signs of attempts at warding as well as signs of a break in. The final location had told them all they needed to know and at the same time, gave them all new questions. “It's a bit complicated, Ollie.”

 

She furrowed her brow as they both slumped down into chairs across from each other. Facing them, she put her hands on her hips. “What is it? You couldn't find her? I thought you had a good lead from her last location.”

 

“We found her, eventually.” Dean spoke up before he sat up straighter. He'd advocated just telling Ollie straight out but Sam had insisted it wait until they got back to the Bunker. Ollie was new to their world, she wasn't used to how easily people tended to die of otherworldly causes. He wished he wasn't. “This isn't easy to tell you, doc. Bianca's dead.”

 

She gasped in shock, her hand moving to her mouth. It was obvious she hadn't contemplated that Bianca would be dead. “What? How long? How?”

 

“From what we could tell, she'd been on the run for weeks. Potentially since she called us with her vision. She tried to cover her tracks, ward her location, it wasn't enough.” Sam explained as gently as he could. He hated this, the horror and shock in Ollie's eyes breaking his heart. She really was an innocent and didn't deserve to be exposed to the horror that was their daily lives. “She'd been dead a few days at least when we found her. We gave her a hunter's funeral, made sure that she was at rest. I'm sorry.”

 

Ollie visibly swallowed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before she spoke. “Who killed her? Do you know?”

 

“From the looks of things, it was a team up. There was evidence of sulfur and she was smited. Her eyes were burned out.” Dean said, giving Sam the same look he'd had in the car when they'd argued over what to tell Ollie verses what she needed to know. Sam wanted to protect her, not seeing how knowing exactly what happened to Bianca would help her in any fashion where Dean had countered with the times they had lied to each other and the fall out from that.

 

She opened her eyes. “Did you take pictures? The warding, her body?”

 

“We did.”

 

“Let me see.”

 

“Ollie, no. No. You don't want to see that. You don't need to.” Sam tried to insist, ignoring Dean who had predicted that Ollie would insist on knowing as much as she could. Given how little they had managed to find concerning why she was being hunted, any news could potentially lead to answers.

 

“Yes I do. I have to. This woman died because she....she died because of me. The least I can do is be a witness.”

 

Sam finally looked to Dean who shrugged. He really hated this now. He took out his tablet and opened up the gallery, showing the pictures of the location Bianca had died in, an abandoned warehouse outside of Broken Arrow. He set it down on the table and watched Ollie's face as she lingered over each picture, studying them before moving on to the next. By the time she got to the last picture which was of Bianca's body, her hand was trembling and it was obvious she was trying not to cry. What could he say to her that would even remotely help?

 

Just then, Jack walked in and was able to gauge that the trip had not gone well. He moved to Ollie's side and looked at the final picture on the tablet. “That was Bianca?”

 

Sam nodded.

 

“I'm sorry, Ollie. I know you were hoping for answers from her.” The nephilim said gently, resting his hand on her shoulder. Jack had been with them a few days in their search for the psychic but once it was obvious that the psychic was on the run from the same forces looking for Ollie, he had returned to the Bunker to keep her safe.

 

She turned to him, a tear escaping. “She died because of me. They went after her, they hunted her down. They tortured her. She must have been so scared. I don't want people to die because of me.” Her voice was quiet and broke in the end.

 

Sam couldn't have been prouder of Jack as he just silently pulled her into his arms, hugging her tight. “It's not your fault Ollie. You didn't kill her. The demons and angels did that. Don't give them power by taking blame for what they did.”

 

A sob was her only reply and Sam had to look away. The only lead they'd had in more than a month and all they got from it was that the demons and angels were apparently working together and had thought nothing of killing the psychic once they found her. Had she told them that she'd called the Winchesters for help? Told them what her vision had been or potentially other visions she might have had but didn't tell them? What the hell was it about Ollie that would have angels and demons teaming up like this? The last time they had worked together had been to try to take down Amara and he couldn't imagine how a history professor from Chicago would warrant another team-up.

 

More than that, what would these angels or demons do to Ollie if they managed to get their hands on her? It made his stomach twist with the thought. He liked Ollie a lot, she deserved so much better than to live in fear like she was, not knowing why her life was in danger. He could sympathize, remembering back to when the powers from Azazel's demon blood had begun to manifest. He'd had no idea about the deal his mother had made before even Dean was born and it had taken a long time for him to come to grips with it and that was with growing up in the life. Ollie had only been around the supernatural for less than two months period.

 

He looked back to see her pulling back to wipe at her tears before leaning up to give Jack a kiss on the cheek. “Does her family know?” She murmured, his eyes averted from theirs. Sam didn't have to be a psychologist to pick up on the shame and guilt that was evident in her tone and body language. It was Winchester standard issue.

 

“Yeah.” Dean spoke up. “We, well, the FBI let them know. I really am sorry Ollie, I know you had big hopes in finding out more from her.”

 

She took a deep breath. “I'd rather still know nothing and have her be alive.” She shook her head, reaching out to close out the picture gallery, the image of Bianca's corpse disappearing. “That poor woman. No one deserves that.” She took a deep breath and stood up straighter. “If you'll excuse me, I think I just need some time.” A look to Jack had her answer the boy's unspoken question. “I'll be okay, sweetheart. Thank you. I just need to be alone right now.”

 

Then she was gone, heading to her room.

 

“I'm really proud of you Jack. What you did right there? That was good instinct.” Dean said, getting up and clapping Jack on the back before grabbing a pair of beers from the mini fridge he insisted on having in the library so he wouldn't have to go all the way to the kitchen for a cold one.

 

“I don't want Ollie to be sad. I know what it's like to feel like that. I nearly killed people right after I was born. And then that man on my first case. It's not a good feeling, that guilt.”

 

“No, it's not. But you recognize that it wasn't your fault just like Bianca's death wasn't Ollie's fault. It's just going to take some time for her to realize that for herself. This is all new to her. It a lot to try and deal with all at once.” Sam sighed. “I just wonder what was so important for Bianca to be hunted down like this. She was obviously tortured. What did she know? What did she reveal?”

 

“What's bothering me is just what this means for Ollie. Whoever these dicks are, they have numbers and they aren't giving up and it's been weeks. Whatever they want her for, it's something big and not a gift certificate to the Sizzler.”

 

Sam opened his beer and took a long swig. “Doesn't matter. They aren't going to get near her. I don't care what they want or how many of them there are.”

 

“We'll keep her safe.” Jack said, crossing his arms.

 

 

**Dean POV**

Dean made his way down the hall to Ollie's room with a tray full of food. She hadn't come out of her room that any of them knew of in the last two days. He didn't want to force her until she was ready, within reason. She wasn't really the cause of the psychic Bianca's death but she felt like she was and they all understood she needed space until she could deal with that. Jack had taken off after he'd accidentally killed that guy in Dodge City. At least she wasn't doing that.

 

Sam was beating himself up at the same time, convinced that if he had been a bit faster in figuring out what direction Bianca had taken or more adamant on looking for the psychic from the start that she would still be alive. He knew it was more to do with hating seeing Ollie so destroyed over the woman's death and not being able to do anything to make it better but for once, he wasn't going to call his little brother out on it.

 

He knocked on the door. “Hey doc? I got some food for you here. Can I come in?”

 

A few moments passed before a small voice answered. “I'm not hungry. Thanks anyway.”

 

Yeah that wasn't going to work. Jack had left food for her and she hadn't eaten that either. “Ollie, you have to eat. I understand you are dealing with a lot but not eating isn't gonna help that. Just a little, okay?”

 

“I said I'm not hungry Dean!” Her voice was a bit stronger, more adamant.

 

“I heard you, I just don't believe you. So I'm gonna keep you company even with this door between us.” He put the tray down and took a seat with his back against her door. Pulling away from them wasn't going to help her deal just like it had never helped when he'd done it or when Sam had or Cas or Jack. They were stronger together even if it was often used against them.

 

He sat there, listening but not hearing anything telling him she was moving around or was coming to the door to tell him to fuck off.

 

“You know, part of hunter life, a big part, is death. Depends on the day how much. Usually we only find a case after someone dies or several people die or disappear. Sometimes more people die because we don't get there fast enough or we make a mistake.” He took a deep breath and thought back. “My dad, he wasn't a perfect hunter. He made mistakes. I've made my share. So has Sam.” He paused, his mind absently going down the old road of all the people he blamed himself for dying. “We told you about Adam, our half brother right? First he died because of a ghoul our dad killed and then the angels fuck him over because I wouldn't say yes to Michael.”

 

The sound of that kid's pleading screams still echoed in his head.

 

“How could anyone be willing to cooperate in the Apocalypse?” Ollie's soft voice answered. She was much closer, probably on the other side of the door. “They tricked Adam. Lied to him. That's not on you.”

 

“Did I tell you about that case with the lady who had a Reaper on a leash? Made her husband think he was a faith healer?”

 

A pause. “I think so. You got electrocuted, didn't you?”

 

“Yeah. I was in bad shape. Just 26 and my heart was on it's last legs because of that. Saved the kids though. Nasty thing that Rawhead.” He sighed. “Long story short, the way this so called healing ended up working was you were cured of your problem but it was put on someone else.”

 

“A life for a life.”

 

“Yep. I got picked and my heart was fixed but a guy named Marshall dropped dead of a heart attack the exact moment I was cured. That death is on me.”

 

“You didn't know it would happen, it's not your fault. It was that lady that leashed the Reaper.”

 

“Just like you didn't know what would happen to Bianca, doc. It's so easy to blame yourself but you didn't do it. You didn't make it happen.”

 

“But it was because of me. Don't try and deny it.”

 

He wasn't going to insult her intelligence by trying to candy coat it. The fact that the psychic that'd clued them in to the threat against Ollie ended up being chased down and killed by both angels and demons wasn't just a coincidence. “Bianca made her own choice when she called us. She knew the risks. She didn't have to give us the heads up about you being in danger. But because she did, you are here, alive and safe. We can't bring Bianca back but we can make those sons of bitches pay for what they did to her. We can keep you safe. That's what she wanted. Okay?”

 

The sound of her sigh told him he was right, she was right on the other side of the door. “Okay.”

 

“Now I'm gonna leave this tray for you and I'm gonna come back later. Please eat some of it okay? It's one step at a time, Ollie. This is one of the steps.”

 

“Okay Dr. Phil.”

 

He snorted, getting up. “Yeah yeah whatever.”


End file.
